More lessons from my kitchen - for kids and their grown ups!
I was speaking to a friend of mine yesterday, and she and her husband are currently working from home with their daughter, and teaching her as the schools are closed. However, she did complain that there wasn’t much guidance given, and she was looking for some creative ways to incorporate teaching with daily tasks. I thought this was amazing and seemed like a fun way to approach teaching at home. In all fairness, I don’t have kids, and I work in healthcare, and we have only recently started our response here, so I won’t be staying home or homeschooling children.
But also - I love baking, I’m an auntie and Godmother, and I love learning (and let’s face it, have always been kind of a nerd). I thought it would be fun to drop a few of my favourite recipes to make (sometimes with my nephew) and what lessons can come out of them - if you so choose.
In truth - I have always been a fan of learning being everywhere. Why else would I have a blog where one of the things I write about the MOST is lessons? And as I tell the children and families I speak to daily - science, maths and language are about life and our surroundings, they are not a subject on the blackboard, or the name of a textbook.
As someone who has always loved and been fascinated by science, maths and language, I was excited by the idea of looking at some of my favourite things to bake, and consider what lessons are hidden there.
And in all of these, reading through the entire recipe and learning about processes and instructions is a great lesson to start with. In addition, weights and measures are a great place to explore fractions, adding and subtracting, and visual comparison. In addition, there is the basic science of baking - where the energy of heat has the capacity to turn a bowl of goo into delicious treats, of varying textures and flavours. There is melting and even evaporation involved - so you can consider changes of phase. And there are chemical reactions galore.
If you want to kick things up a notch, cut the recipe in half!! Here are a few of my favourites.
Gingerbread cookies. (Easy, no mixer required). My nephew came to me some time ago, and told me he needed to make a gingerbread man. (And yes - he said needed. When he gets an idea in his head it becomes super important. I guess that is the life of a 5 year old.) Anyway - as the Godmummy who used to make actual gingerbread houses from scratch, I decided that I would definitely take him up on that, and I used this recipe. It is quick and easy and doesn’t require a mixer. The dough is designed to be made beforehand, and rested, and so you could make it and have it prepared for children to work with. What can you teach/learn with gingerbread cookies? Shapes, hand/eye co-ordination, and when you are mixing up the icing to decorate the biscuits you can consider primary and secondary colours, how they can be mixed, as well as unleashing creativity. And you can reduce the ginger a little bit if you are worried about the strong flavour. Here in the Caribbean, children are used to ginger, so I didn’t bother with doing that when I made them for my nephew and his friends. (and of course my sisters.)
Chocolate chip cookies. (Easy, hand mixer required). This is something that I recently made with my nephew and his friends. We used the recipe on the back of the packet, minus the nuts. They all enjoyed making and eating them, and I actually did use it to teach them a few things. We spoke about measuring, and did counting as we added the ingredients and spooned out the cookies. We also learned a lot about co-operation and working together, and treating one another kindly as we took turns with the mixer, and with adding the ingredients. And I learned a little something as well - I have always noticed that I like the taste of cookie dough more than the actual cookies. I learned that if I put them in for a shorter amount of time, then it has more of the cookie dough flavour, as it continues to bake when you take it out of the oven. And I don’t mind pale cookies - of course you do what you need to do if you want a darker or crunchier cookie.
Bread (Medium, no mixer required). I must confess that I am partial to baking bread. I recently learned how to make baguettes and honestly I feel as if I was able to fulfill a lifelong dream by doing that. Making bread can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. I like this recipe because it is delicious, has some wholewheat and oats in it, and you can throw in some sunflower seeds at the last minute if you like, and you can do it with or without a mixer. I use this recipe to make two small loaves, or one loaf and some rolls. And I find baking bread to be THE most relaxing and stress relieving thing on earth. Now I will warn you - baking bread takes time, so if you have impatient young children, remember that bread needs to proof a couple of times, for hours at a time (depending on what type you are making). So while it is a good lesson, know your children and what they can tolerate. What can you teach/learn from bread? Well I am partial to the science of bread making. Understanding raising agents, and looking at yeast and how it works may be better for older children, but it is always amazing when you add the yeast to the tepid water and get it bubbling up, as well as watching the dough double in size. In addition, weighing, counting and measuring is a good skill here. And who doesn’t like a good bread roll or slice of bread warm from the oven?
Angel food cake (Medium, mixer definitely required). This type of cake is a great demonstration of the hidden ingredient that is involved in many baking projects - air! Angel food cake uses air as a leavener, and so this is a good time to teach/learn about air, and the expansion of the egg whites is a great way to show this. It is a bit technique sensitive, but even baking flops can be teachable moments (something I learn all the time). This shows a different leavening technique from bread and cookies, and so it is a great comparison to show different ways of making baked goods rise.
Pizza (Easy, mixer optional). I count pizza making as baking. If you want to argue with me about it, I charge a reasonable hourly rate for just this purpose. In the meantime, I love making pizza and it is a great kid friendly exercise. Here is the easiest and most delicious pizza base recipe I know of, but I have also made gluten free crusts, and honestly, you can buy a crust if you want to skip this step. Once you have the base, you can decide what is going on the pizza. You can use sauce, tomato paste, even pesto, garlic butter or alfredo if you want something different to go on there. Then it is time for toppings. The thing I love about homemade pizza is that you can put anything on it. It does (or doesn’t) need to have cheese on it, (this is from someone who hated cheese as a child and still isn’t sure about it as an adult). You can make the usual cheese and tomato, pepperoni, ham and pineapple. To be a bit more adventurous, you can have chicken alfredo, veggie pizza etc. As for what you can teach/learn here - the list is endless. You can learn about foodstuffs, and encourage children to try new veggies. You can look at colours. AND you can divide your pizza into wedged and talk fractions! You can make the pizza look like a clock and learn to tell time. And of course it is a tasty treat when done.
I would love to know what are your favourite go-to lessons to make with children, and what lessons you learn and teach in your kitchen.
And as always I send you big love from a small island.