My two-and-a-half year old has been asking me to back a cake with her for the last few days. With all the cookies, and sweets around for the holidays, what's one more? So, we looked through our baking supplies and found three cake mixes. I let her pick which one she wanted to make. She decided on the classic white cake. The first thing we did was wash our hands: a very important self help and healthy and safety skill.
Then I read the ingredients we would need to her and showed her the pictures that went with it. This helps reinforce that writing has a purpose and it's purpose is to communicate something a language and literacy concept. I let her "spill" the ingredients into the bowl and we counted the eggs as we cracked them we also measured the water and the oil using different measuring cups these are all mathematical concepts. She helped me mix the ingredients together. I plugged in the mixer and she turned it on while I held on to the handle, then she held the handle behind my hand and we mixed together. Allowing your child to take part in any activity, especially when he or she volunteers to do so helps reinforce self-help skills and boosts their self esteem. As long as you keep safety first it can be a rewarding and delightful experience for you and your children. For example, I made sure not to plug the mixer in until the moment we were going to use it and unplugged it immediately after we were done mixing the batter.
My toddler got to help make the cicing as well. Once the batter was mixed and ready to go I let her choose the shape of the baking pans she wanted for the cake. She decided on a heart shape. I'm lucky enough to have inhereted many of my mom's baking supplies so we had big round or square pans, small round or square pans, retangle pans, and of course her favorite, the heart shaped pans. This was a great way to talk about shapes and compare sizes. Both are math and science concepts.
Along the way we discusses other important kitchen routines and as she licked the beaters I began washing the dishes. To my surprise she said, "Mommy, I wanna wash!" So, I pulled a chair up next to the sink and handed her the wash cloth and she began washing the beaters. Now, every one knows a two-and-a-half year old probably won't do the most thorough job of washing anything, especially not something as intricate as a beater, but that's not the point. The point is to develop your child's interest and solidify their self-esteem. So, I encouraged her and told her what a good job she was doing. Then asked if I could help and got the little nooks and crannies she couldn't reach.
