Fall, cilantro

Guacamole

Ripe avocados are scooped and mashed by children, with lime and cilantro stirred in. Children feel a firm fruit become soft and smooth.

About 15 minutes

Picture cards for your child

Ingredients

Servings

Each serving is about 1/4 cup.

Tools

a bowl
spoons
a fork or potato masher
a citrus juicer
a cutting board and a knife for the adult

Your child chooses

Your child decides how smooth to mash it, chunky or creamy.
Your child picks how much cilantro to tear in, a little or a lot.
Your child chooses what to scoop it with, a tortilla, a cracker or a carrot stick.
Your child tastes and decides whether it needs more lime or more salt.

Steps

Wash hands with soap and water.
An adult halves the avocados and takes out the pits.
Scoop the avocado into the bowl.
Mash it with the fork or masher.
Squeeze in the lime.
Tear in the cilantro and add the salt.

Your child's part

Two and three

Scoop the soft avocado with a spoon and tear the cilantro leaves. Take turns mashing with your hand on theirs.

What to expect. Expect a short, gloriously messy burst of scooping and mashing, with green hands and maybe green cheeks. Tasting from the spoon as they go is welcome.

Four and five

Scoop and mash on their own and press the lime on the juicer. Add the salt and stir.

What to expect. Many children stay from scooping to the first dip, about ten minutes. Some love the squish with their hands and some want only a spoon, and both are fine ways to take part.

Six and up

Mash to the texture they like, squeeze in the lime and taste. Decide whether it needs more salt or lime.

What to expect. Older children often enjoy being the one who tastes and adjusts the lime and salt. A bowl mashed just the way they like it is the win.

Taste and compare

Set a slice of plain avocado and a cilantro leaf beside a spoonful of the guacamole. Look, smell, touch and taste each one if they like. What does the lime add?

I wonder

I wonder why guacamole turns brown when it sits out.
I wonder if the pit could grow into a tree.

Clean up together

Your child carries the avocado skins and lime peels to the compost.
Your child washes the spoons and the masher in warm soapy water.
Your child wipes the table with a damp cloth.
The adult washes the knife used to halve the avocados.

Storing it

Guacamole is best eaten the same day, since it turns brown as it sits.
If it waits for a meal, cover it with wrap pressed onto the surface and keep it in the refrigerator.

Connections

Cilantro from a garden, a farm or the market.
Tortillas and tempeh tacos, to eat it with.
Avocado skins and lime peels can go to the compost.
Fall, when cilantro grows again in the cool weather.

Safe hands

An adult halves the avocados and takes out the pits. Children scoop and mash.