The children learn about tofu making from field to plate and, says Huang, ‘It’s a way of passing on cultural heritage and developing life skills’. Photo: Weibo.
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https://scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3203591/kindergarten-farmers-pre-school-course-exposes-chinese-kids-natural-paradise-while-teaching-them-how Trending in China
‘Kindergarten farmers’: pre-school course exposes Chinese kids to natural ‘paradise’ while teaching them how to make tofu from scratch
- A kindergarten in Guizhou province receives online praise with ‘field practice’ farming course for 6-year-olds
- Practical classes are appearing across China under a national life skills curriculum that came into effect this year
A school in China teaches 6-year-olds to make tofu from scratch with a farming course, part of a national curriculum on practical skills that started this year. Photo: SCMP composite/handout
A kindergarten in southwestern China has launched a course on farming with classes which include making tofu from scratch as part of a central government plan to boost the life skills and independence of China’s children.
Launched earlier this year at an unnamed kindergarten in Bijie city in Guizhou province, the new course has attracted substantial interest after starting its “field practice” curriculum, which includes a lesson teaching the process of making tofu, Bailu Video reported.
A teacher at the school, surnamed Huang, said the new curriculum is designed to provide a space for students to gain practical knowledge about nature and develop life skills.
“Our kindergarten’s farm course and making tofu initiative aims to teach our children how to connect with real life. It is a creative idea that offers a paradise where children can explore nature,” Huang told Bailu Video.
A video of the tofu-making class posted on Weibo shows children cooking soybeans and other ingredients in a large pot simmering over an outdoor fire before moving the beans into a bag to squeeze out soy milk.
Huang said that the children had learned the process step by step, from cleaning the soybeans to the coagulation of the bean curd.
“It’s a way of passing on cultural heritage and developing life skills,” she said.
China introduced a new curriculum this year to teach students to be more independent with life skills such as cooking. Photo: Weibo.
The move by the kindergartendrew substantial interest among mainland netizens after the story was published.
“This is absolutely brilliant. It will help improve the children’s capacity for independence,” one user said.
Another, who is a university student, wrote: “We also need this. I’m in my 20s, but I don’t know how to cook.”
A video of the children making tofu has attracted positive comments from netizens, many of whom expressed regret that they didn’t get similar lessons at school. Photo: Shutterstock.
Since the Chinese government introduced a new curriculum earlier this year for primary and secondary students to build independence and develop life skills such as cooking, there has been dramatic growth in the number of practical courses.
In October, a primary school in Zhejiang province in eastern China established an outdoor kitchen for students to learn how to cook basic meals.
In September, a secondary school in Anhui province, also in eastern China, started a class teaching students basic kitchen skills when preparing food such as cleaning and peeling vegetables and seasoning food before cooking.