Baking is traditionally associated with the older generation and there’s nothing wrong with that of course. However, in recent times there really has begun a shift in terms of what baking means, it is now a pastime adored by all sorts of people, including students and even kids.
Baking can teach a lot to kids. It can be a great way to introduce children to the methods of cooking, helping them to be more comfortable with the paraphernalia of the kitchen, it can teach kids about measurements and the importance of accuracy and it can foster a child’s artistic side, baking can be very creative despite the importance of accurate measures, and baking can teach kids perhaps the most valuable lesson of all: patience.
When kids are in the kitchen some care does need to be taken. Baking is not the easiest thing in the world, however it is certainly not the most difficult and there
are plenty of relatively easy bakes that are absolutely ideal for kids.
Before you start baking with kids ensure that the kitchen area is nice and clean as it will probably get very messy as you cook. You should be very prepared for mess, however mess doesn’t need to be a bad thing and can really add to the fun.
It might be a good idea to prepare some of the ingredients beforehand, if there’s a lot of ingredients to chop or slightly more difficult jobs like making pastry then you might want to do these in advance. By doing this you can simplify the process and make it much more suitable for younger kids, and a bit safer too.
Safety is obviously extremely important and that goes without saying. In order to ensure the safety of your kids you should ensure they don’t use implements that are too sharp or potentially dangerous, and that whilst in the kitchen they are well supervised at all times.
Ensure that you have all the equipment you require, for instance a cake mould. You can get lots of cake moulds UK etc online these days, and so you might want to do this in advance. Sometimes you can improvise when a certain piece of equipment is not available, for example using a jam jar instead of a cake cutter.
Make sure you choose your recipe very carefully as some bakes might be just a little too difficult for little ones. However, this all depends on the skill of your kids and lots of kids will surprise you in terms of what they’re capable of in the kitchen.
The most important thing is to not take cooking with kids too carefully. The chances are your cake will come out a little wonky or wobbly but this doesn’t matter of course. What does matter is that you have fun and your kids learn a little something.
