To help kids understand how things transform between the farm and our table, we did a "Where does it Come From" lesson. We talked about how milk comes from cows and then is transformed into various food products, such as cheese and ice cream. Their hands on activity was making fresh butter.
Ingredients
- Small jar with lid (baby food jars work well)
- Heavy whipping cream
- Marble
Fill the jar about half way with the cream and drop in the marble. Screw the lid on tightly (double check because sour milk is a noxious smell). Once everything is secure, encourage your pint sized scientist to shake away. I played music to bop along to. After just a couple of minutes, the cream should start to coat the sides of the jar. Within ten minutes (or three songs), the butter should be pretty much done. The easiest way to make sure is to shake the jar and make sure you don't hear the marble rattling around. There will still be liquid in the jar. Unless you have a recipe that calls for a tablespoon of buttermilk, trash it.
Feel free to eat the butter, but don't forget that there is a marble in there (not my idea of good eats).
