Preschoolers can learn use measuring cups while making cake batter.
Combine your preschoolers' active imaginations, busy hands and desire to explore new things with their love for baked treats that look as good as they taste and you've got the prefect recipe for a bakery theme. Let your preschoolers go from kitchen observers to master chefs with these bakery lessons that are sure to serve up some fun.
Baked Treats
Have preschoolers become real chefs. Invite students to help make cakes, cupcakes, muffins, cookies, pretzels or a loaf of bread. Allow students to measure ingredients and take turns mixing the batter or kneading dough. Bake your treats and let cool. If you baked cakes, cupcakes, cookies or another treat that needs frosting, have students help mix the frosting to decorate their baked goods. If an oven is not accessible at school, bring in unfrosted cookies, cupcakes or cakes for preschoolers to decorate. Invite parents and younger siblings to class to see all the treats your class created. Enjoy the treats at snack time.
Bread Science
Set up experiments to show preschoolers why bakers use yeast when making bread. Make two batches of bread dough. Add yeast to one batch and omit the yeast from the other. Let both batches of dough sit in a warm location, such as under a lamp, and have preschoolers observe the dough to see which one rises. Show students what the yeast is doing inside the bread by mixing one tbsp. of sugar in a cup of warm water. Invite students to sprinkle a package of yeast on top and watch how the mixture bubbles and foams.
Dramatic Play Area
Create a play bakery in your classroom. Gather cake pans, pie tins, muffin trays, cookie sheets, bread loaf pans, rolling pins, cookie cutters, aprons, bowls, measuring cups, spatulas and baker's hats for preschoolers to use. Set up a play oven along with a table for rolling out dough. If a play oven is not available, create one by cutting an oven door flap on a medium-sized box and painting buttons on the outside. Mix a few batches of play dough or salt dough for students to use to make pretend cakes, pies, muffins, cookies and other kinds of baked treats. Bring the senses alive by making gingerbread play dough, chocolate play dough, oatmeal play dough or coffee play dough.
Cookie Math
Laminate paper "cookie" circles with the numbers one through 10 written on one side. Place the cookie shapes in a math center along with buttons, cereal pieces, chocolate candies or gumdrops. Invite preschoolers to put on their aprons and chef hats to decorate the cookies for bakery customers. The number on the cookie shows how many decorations each cookie needs. Repeat with cookies drawn on paper and let preschoolers use stamps or stickers to decorate the cookies. Have preschoolers put the decorated cookies in order by number of decorations.
Tags: play dough, along with, baked treats, cakes cupcakes, decorate cookies, Invite students