This week’s activities

Making lemon balm tea

We have some lovely lemon balm plants in our allotment. When the leaves are rubbed they have a delicious smell. These leaves can be infused into hot water to make a lemon balm tea. First of all, the adult and the children collected some of the leaves. Initially, they rubbed the leaves to release the aroma. The children said that they smelt like lemon. The teacher explained that to make the tea, they would need to use hot water. This would help infuse the water with the flavour from the leaves. The children helped put the leaves in the teapot and then the teacher added the (cooled) hot water. She explained that only an adult can use a kettle and that they must never touch hot things. She asked the children to give her some examples and they came up with kettle, cooker, fire. Well done children. Once the water had cooled down, the children took it in turns to stir the mixture in the teapot, noticing how the leaves had wilted in the water. Once they felt that the tea was ready, the adult carefully poured the tea into cups, adding some cold water to make sure it was at the right temperature for tasting. Finally, the children did a taste test. Some children weren’t very keen but one child especially liked it, drinking a whole cup. Her conclusion was ‘“it’s nice”.

There are photos on our website and Facebook page.

Thank you.

The Pre-school Team