This hands-on lesson plan, shared by Marlee Barton of Kentucky, includes knife skill activities using Play-doh and graduating to real vegetables. A soup lab follows. Sounds like a fun and delicious way to learn about knives!
Objectives
- Students learn to properly hold a knife.
- Students learn to carry a knife safely.
- Students learn to identify several types of knife cuts.
- Students learn to make the correct knife cuts using Play-doh and vegetables.
Materials
- Potato, Carrot, Onion, Collard greens, Garlic
- Play-doh
- Chef’s Knives
- Santoku Knives
- Cutting boards
Instructional Procedures
- The first day students research various knives (see infographic below). Students are to identify them and then tell what their functions are. Then, we go over them.
- Then, I intro knife skills. Using a knife I show them how to hold it correctly and identify the different parts of the knife as I go along.
- The next day I demonstrate the different knife cuts, how to hold the knife, how to cut properly, how to hand a knife over to someone else, etc. As I do each cut, the kids are standing at the prep tables (cutting board and knife per person). They do the cuts as I do them with the Play-doh.
- They shape the Play-doh into the vegetable I am cutting and they cut it the way that I do.
- The following day, students demonstrate the knife cuts using actual vegetables.
- Students wrap up their knife practicing by using the vegetables they cut to complete a soup lab.
Attachments
- Know Your Knives Infographic (Link)
- Knife Skills (PDF)
- Knife Skills2 (PDF)
- Potato Soup Recipe (Word)
- Broccoli and Cheddar Soup (PDF)
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