Strawberry Jam Workshop

The other day, I helped 40 children ages 9-12 make their own strawberry jam.  They had grown the berries all year, tending a small plot at their school.  After carefully freezing the berries as they ripened, they had enough to make jam for each student. 

Most of the children had never made jam before and it was really fun to guide them through the process.   To keep it simple, or as simple as it can be with 40 kids and only 2 hours, we worked with a freezer jam recipe rather than the usual cooked jam recipe I make at home.  We probably made about 8 batches of jam, in all.  The children made their own labels and used ribbon to decorate their jars. 

Many of the kids were amazed at how simple the process was -- one boy joked, "Smuckers, watch out!"