By: Virginia Moncrieff

Why cooking ??

• Children learn many life skills through cooking.

•. They practice reading and math skills as well as learning to plan and follow directions.

Reading in cooking

•

Directions have to be read carefully

•

Labels have to read to find the right ingredients

Math in cooking~ adding, subtracting and dividing

• When reading a recipe it often says things like you will need

3

eggs or

2

cups of flour.

Math in cooking ~ measuring liquids

A liquid should be poured into the cup with it at eye level.

solids

Dry ingredients should be spooned into the measuring container until it is above the top.

Then a flat edge such as a knife should be used to scrape across the top making it level across.

Reading reading the directions reading labels to find items Reading and math in cooking counting subtracting Math fractions addition

Some tips for in the kitchen

•An adult should always be in the kitchen when a child is cooking.

•When cooking on top of the stove turn handles out of the way.

•Always wash your hands before you start to cook.

•Collect all utensils and ingredients before you start.

•Be very careful with sharp utensils.

•Always wear oven mitts when handling hot items and have a spot ready for them.

•Keep a towel nearby for spills and clean as you go.

Let’s get cooking

First read the recipe:

Fruit Salad You will need to wash all the fruit and slice the needed amounts.

1 cup strawberries 1/2 cup grapes 1/2 cup pineapples 1 cup peaches 1 cup cantaloupe 3/4 cup kiwi fruit 1Tablespoon fresh lemon Yogurt

Combine all the fruit in a bowl and toss with lemon. Serve with yogurt.

•

Another valuable lesson children can learn from cooking is how to make a mistake , handle the situation, handle and fix the mistake if need be and to then move on.

•

I started cooking with my children when they were very small then it was for fun but as they got older and even today I use it as a learning experience. So go cook with your kids and sneak in a math and a reading lesson too.

Some sites for cooking with kids:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

•http://www.kidchef.com/cda/index.cfm

Kids/cooking with kids.htm

ardenandhearth •http://www.bankstreetcorner.com/cooking.shtml

•http://www.kidchef.com/cda/parents.cfm

•http://www.weekiwis.com/.htmlrecipes

Thank you to my little chefs for teaching

me

something new everyday.

Love mommy