(303) 979-9077
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[email protected]With the Thanksgiving holiday fast approaching, one of the things most of us look forward to about this time of year is the food! We all have our favorites (Team Pumpkin Pie or Team Sweet Potato Pie?). In addition to the family time, one additional reason to let your kids in the kitchen this year is to show the fun connections between math and cooking. In this week’s blog we will highlight various ways you can incorporate math topics while baking goodies with your family and show your kids how learning math can be so sweet!
While baking cookies or other sweets you can introduce a quick lesson about shapes and sizes. Use your cookie cutters to help them see the differences between small, medium, and large sizes. If making any desserts with food colorings, you can have them try mixing different color combinations. For the little ones, involve them in the fun by letting them pick out the sprinkles and tell you each color.
Another great kitchen tool to model the concept of size is baking pans, since different recipes may call for different pan sizes and dimensions You can also use your baking pans to review different shapes (circular cake pans versus rectangular baking sheets).
For recipes that require numerous ingredients, have your child count out the number of ingredients needed. Or, if your recipe calls for single pieces of food, such as chocolate chips or nuts, suggest they practice counting the number of pieces and calculate how much equals to the required measurement the recipe calls for.
Cooking is a perfect exercise for children who are being introduced to measurements. You can have them practice which type of ingredients are measured in tablespoons and teaspoons versus ounces and cups. Using measuring tools can also introduce fractions and highlight that with measurements, the denominator, or the second number in a fraction, is actually a smaller measurement amount as it increases (ex. 1/4 cup measurement is actually less than 1/2 cup). Baking chocolate or Hershey’s chocolate that can be broken apart are also a sweet tool to practice fractions.
Multiplication can be demonstrated by doubling a recipe. Have your baker-in-training multiply the measurements to figure the correct amount of the ingredients needed to double, triple, or quadruple your recipe. If your original recipe calls for 3 cups of sugar and 2 eggs, have your child calculate how many is needed if you want to double the recipe (3 x 2 and 2 x 2). Or you can show them how to reduce the recipe and divide the measurements to make less than the recipe calls for. For example, if your recipe yields 24 cookies and you only want to make half a dozen (6), have your child calculate what only a quarter, or ¼ of the original ingredient amount equals to.
A related concept is serving size. You can teach about serving sizes listed on the ingredients package. For example, if the amount of chocolate in a package says ¼ cup equals a serving and you put in 1 cup of the chocolate, you can help your child understand that it actually quadruples the recipe and equals to 4 servings (and way more sugar!)
To explain the concept of weight versus volume, you can break out your dry ingredients versus your liquid ingredients in a recipe. You can explain that one cup of dry flour is not the same as one cup of milk. The flour is measured by weight, while the milk is measured by volume, which results in different measurements. 8 fluid ounces of liquid is not the same as the weight of 1 cup of flour. Due to this difference, you can demonstrate for your child that it’s best to weigh your dry ingredients in dry measuring cups (a scale is even better) and your liquid ingredients in a liquid measuring cup to make sure you get the exact amount needed for your recipe.
Since most cooking requires a time limit for preparation, it’s an activity that can be used to reinforce the concept of time. Allow them to set the timer and quiz them on different time frames (ex. How long should the timer be set if the pie must cook for 90 minutes? What time will the pie be done from start to finish?).
Once you’ve had enough fun in the kitchen, give Mathnasium of Littleton a call or email for more information on our specialized math program that caters to your child’s individual needs and to schedule a free math assessment.
