Baking can be a great bonding activity for you and your children.
Cambridge researchers found that when parents cooked with their children, children gained confidence and made healthier choices when it came to food. The term baking is often associated with sugar-laden foods and hence, probably an overlooked part of learning to cook. Nevertheless, baking with your child can be fun and beneficial.
Of course, it’s probably not a good idea to introduce baking/cooking if your child isn’t ready. For instance, if your child can’t follow your instructions just yet, you might like to wait a little longer before introducing him/her to it. The whole point of this activity is to bond with your child and introduce beneficial skills. Hence, baking with a child would be ideal as he/she has good comprehension and has some awareness of danger.
Here are some guidelines you can follow to ensure you have a smooth interaction with your little pre-schooler:
- Be specific with instructions
Be explicit in letting your child know what you want or how the task should be done. Go step by step until your child is ready to do it on their own. This can take a couple of times before your child is proficient in the task. Additionally, your child isn’t going to understand how to fold or whip the mix, hence assign simple manageable tasks. For instance, teach him/her to line the baking tin with oil/parchment, set up some ingredients, etc.
- Do not insist on perfection
Remember your little one is not going to be a Julia Child just yet! Have a more relaxed approach when guiding children when baking. At the beginning, you can anticipate some mess and spills!
Benefits of Baking With Your Child
- Build Some Mathematical Ideas!
Baking requires precision and involves some measures. This can be helping to introduce mathematical ideas to your child. It provides an opportunity for your child to learn about fractions and volumes. So get your child to measure up by dumping out cups of sugar, etc.
- Introduce New Vocabulary
Baking/cooking offers opportunities to learn some fresh vocabulary. For instance, “fold” in the eggs isn’t the same as “fold” the clothes.
- Develop Fine-Motor Skills
Simple activities like holding a cup can develop and strengthen your child’s grip which can facilitate writing skills. A lot of tasks require moving the wrist and practicing the pincer grip which helps when getting little one used to grip a pencil. Spooning batter into muffin pans also build hand-eye coordination skills.
- Introduce Some Social Skills
Baking involves some diligence, following the recipe (rules) to a tee and patience while that tasty morsel is hatching in the oven. Hence, it would be a good means to share with your child about the need to wait and follow the rules.
Tips for Baking With Your Child
- Prepare in advance
Make sure you’ve got all the items and utensils needed prepped beforehand. It can be disorienting for you to be guiding your child while trying to look for a whisk or something else. Also, the process can be more efficient when well-prepped.
- Talk about safety precautions beforehand
Share with your child about the things he/she needs to be mindful about. If using sharp utensils, explain that you will use them or show them how to use it gently. When using appliances, make sure he/she is aware of the dos and don’ts prior!
- Go through the recipe with your child
This is where you can develop your child’s vocabulary skills. Additionally, it’s just priming your child for what’s to come. Expand on this to develop literacy skills by making a simple infographic with your child.
- Allow your child to taste and feel
Bask in the kinesthetic (touching material) appeals of baking. Allow your little one to have some responsibility in the whole process.
- Involve your child in the clean up process
Normalise the need to clean up by making your child clean up with you.
If you’re not too keen on baking because of the high sugar content, remember you can bake savory stuff too like eggs in a basket, simple cheesy veggie pies using readymade pastry!
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