Teach Mom Learn

Baking is not only my favorite hobby, it’s also my favorite teaching technique. There are limitless skills baking and cooking can teach kids. Some are concrete, like math and reading, and others are more abstract, like executive functioning and social-emotional learning.

The best part is that after they’re done learning, they get to enjoy a delicious treat as a reinforcer for all their hard work -and so do you!

Here are 10 skills baking and cooking teach your kids:

1. Measurement

Measuring is a great way to teach math skills to your kids. As you go through the recipe with your child, have them select the correct tool to measure each ingredient.

Teach them the difference between measuring white sugar and brown sugar. Explain why you’d use a liquid measuring cup for oil and a dry measuring cups for flour. Talk about the importance of being precise in your measurements.

Measurement is an essential skill for math, science, and countless jobs. The skills you teach while baking chocolate chip cookies will grow into lifelong learning experiences.

2. Fractions

Fractions are a difficult concept, but visual aides can be incredibly helpful. When your child bakes and cooks with measuring cups and spoons, they’ll clearly see the difference between a whole, half, third, and quarter. The more often your child uses these tools, the better they’ll understand the relationship between the fractions.

You can even use your measuring cups and water to teach equivalent fractions. Have them dump 2 1/4 cups into a 1/2 cup or 3 1/3 cups into a 1 cup. The visual supports will be far more memorable than any traditional math problems.

3. Reading

Functional reading skills are essential for children. The ability to read and follow directions is something they will need for the rest of their lives.

Guide them through recipes step-by-step. Encourage them to rephrase directions in their own words as a way to monitor their understanding.

If the recipe is written as a big chunk of information, rewrite it into steps for your younger children. Older children can rewrite it themselves and consider how they can make it easier to follow.

Breaking down complex directions into simple steps is a common accommodation for students, and teaching your child how to do this on their own will help their reading comprehension and executive functioning skills.

4. Time Management

Baking and cooking require strong time management skills. Take advantage of this to help your child build theirs.

As you read through the recipe, have your child estimate how long each step will take. Write their guess down. Then, as you cook, time yourselves and assess your accuracy.

Once you’re done and everything’s in the oven, review the results of your little experiment. Analyze what took longer than expected and what moved much faster. Consider why your child’s estimates may have differed from reality.

You can use this little game for so many other household tasks -cleaning a room, sweeping a floor, dropping off something in a room and getting back to the kitchen. Kids love it because it’s super fun to race your own time, but they don’t realize that they’re also learning to accurately measure time!

Skills like that will help them accurately plan for activities in all areas of their lives.

5. Strategic Planning

Strategic planning is an executive functioning skill your child will need to be successful in school, work, and life in general. In a nutshell, it’s the ability to break tasks down into smaller steps, build a plan to execute those steps, and stay on track until they complete the task.

Baking is a perfect microcosm of executive functioning. You’re taking a complex recipe, breaking it down into manageable parts, and then following through. Let your child take the lead when you cook and be there to provide support as they need it.

6. Social-Emotional Learning

There’s limitless opportunity for social-emotional learning in baking. Your child will learn patience and perseverance. They’ll have to be comfortable with discomfort, like imperfection, mistakes, and trying new, complex tasks.

The life lessons that come from cooking will help your child grow into a more confident learner who navigates obstacles. They’ll be able to draw on the struggles they experienced baking when they face new ones.

7. Problem-Solving

Sometimes, things unfortunately go wrong in baking. And while it’s unfortunate, it’s also completely okay. Spills, burnt food, and other messes are all part of the learning experience.

Younger kids will learn problem-solving skills when you normalize their mistakes. Let them know that mistakes are no big deal, then talk them through the problem-solving process. Guide them to the solution without coming right out and telling them.

For older kids, intentionally create problems. Hide the 1/2 cup measuring cups so they have to figure out another way to measure 3 1/2 cups flour. “Run out” of butter when you’re making brownies and let them research possible substitutes.

Encouraging creative thinking to resolve real-world problems will help your kids apply these skills to the many other obstacles they will encounter in life.

8. Science

Cooking and baking are basically just delicious science experiments. The way the ingredients combine to create something new is pretty close to magic, but there are fascinating reasons why it all works out.

Teach your child the scientific process by encouraging them to ask questions and seek answers. If they want to know why yeast rises, Google it together. Get them thinking about why sugar is important or why some cookies come out crispy while others are soft and gooey.

Check out “The Science Behind the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie” and other videos on Thomas Joseph’s Kitchen Conundrums for fun visuals explaining how and why different combinations of ingredients impact baked goods.

9. Risk-Taking

Cooking and baking are fantastic ways to facilitate risk-taking and creativity. For baking, be sure to keep all the core ingredients the same, but encourage your child to add fun, unexpected ingredients like spices, extracts, or candy.

Cooking is far less structured than baking, so there’s lots of room for experimenting. Let your child test out different flavors, spices, sauces, or other ingredients. Have them work through the recipe, tasting as they go, and make judgement calls.

The results will be something uniquely theirs, something they can take ownership of. If it’s great, they can be proud and share their success. If it’s not, it’s a harmless learning experience they can build on for the next time.

10. Nutrition

While kids shouldn’t be concerned about their weight, it’s a good idea to introduce the value of healthy eating early. As you cook with your child, discuss the benefits of the healthy ingredients in your recipe.

For older kids, talk about how strawberries are loaded with Vitamin C or how eggs contain protein and iron. For younger kids, talk more about what the food does for their body. Tell them how spinach makes them strong and how oranges help them fight off sickness.

By understanding the value of the ingredients in the recipe, your kids will generalize that to other meals. This will open up many conversations about why it’s so important to eat a rainbow of foods.

Do you use baking as a teaching tool? What other household activities do you think are helpful for learning? Please share in the comments below!

And check out these tips and tricks for baking with a toddler!