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In the Kitchen: Baking Cookies with Kids
By
Nessa |
June 15th, 2009 |
Category:
Cooking |
8 comments
Nessa is a full time wife and mother of two, living the small town life in rural Texas. She loves cooking everything from tried and true recipes to her own wonderful creations. Catch her blogging at Ramblings of a Texas Housewife and on Twitter @Nessa_TX .
Getting your kids involved in the kitchen is a great way to spend quality time with them while teaching them valuable life lessons. Ashley was bored and wanting a snack, so we popped into the kitchen and made a batch of REESE’S Chewy Chocolate Cookies.
We had a great time together plus she learned about cooking. When you are in the kitchen you use math, science, and more. It’s a great classroom! There is so much you can teach while simply baking cookies together.
Cooking Basics with Kids
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- We also discussed oven safety, like never to use the oven by herself, using pot holders, just basic kitchen safety points. What you share with your kids on this will depend on their age. Ashley is nine, so cooking on her own is not allowed.
- She learned to crack eggs into a small bowl, before dumping into your main ingredients, just in case shell ends up in your eggs. This is exactly what happened, so she actually saw what Mom was trying to explain to her.
- We discussed the difference between stirring, using an electric mixer, whisking, and other commonly used methods of mixing ingredients.
- Once the cookies were in the oven, she helped me clean up the mess and do dishes. I think it is important to teach clean up, since it is part of the cooking process.
Beyond The Kitchen
- While adding ingredients, we talked about where they come from. How do we get flour, sugar, salt, etc? She knew about eggs because we were using some straight from the farm. The other ingredients however led to some great conversation and learning.
- She had fun learning about measurements and fractions. We played
around in the water making full cup measures with 1/3 cup, 1/4 cup, etc. Being hands on with fractions seemed to help her understand more fully. - We talked about the science of cooking a bit. What does each ingredient do in the recipe? She had no idea that baking soda helps cookies rise into nice, fluffy cookies. You could really get detailed into the chemistry of cooking here, if your child is interested.
Of course, I gained the most pleasure from spending quality time with my aspiring chef. We enjoyed great conversation, she learned quite a bit, and we made some precious memories. The cookies were pretty good too! So, why not hit the kitchen with your kids? Cooking is such an important thing to learn and doing it together makes for a special day!
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Nessa you did good as usual. Ashley loves being your helper and learning too! Actually she craves it! BTW Where are the cookies. I am sure one cookie is still on my diet! LOL
Thanks for the great article, It’s a great reminder that learning can be fun. What child doesn’t like to cook
We should do this. My kids would love to help. Would keep them busy during the summer anyway.
Great pictures and great way to teach the kids to cook.
What a fun way of learning and quality time with your daughter. I will have to use your idea when my 2 get a little older.
@Beca @Nessa: I agree. I baked biscuits with my daughter (9) last night to go with dinner. It takes a little extra time, but what a great learning experience!
Barbi/Danelle
Great ideas and tips for cooking with the kiddos.
I always loved baking with my daughter and then my Grandkids. Great job!!