Bake Off Fridays

'Bake Off' Fridays!

The children in Nursery and Reception love to bake! 

Every week, the children learn about health and hygiene and love to get creative making something special.  These are important life skills. 

Our baking choices may link to our topics, eg.  making more porridge for baby bear or may link to the children's interests. 

Here are some of the benefits of cooking with children: 

1) It is a life skill -developing a love of cooking is a basic skill that is needed for the rest of your Childs life.

2) It helps to develop an Adventurous Eater! 

One of the greatest benefits of cooking with children is that it can help to develop an adventurous and various taste palette.  Those who have been involved in the cooking process are generally more keen to try new foods.  The younger you start, the better! 

3) Improves Health - One of the best things you can do for your health is to cook at home.  research shows that people who eat home-cooked meals, on a regular basis, tend to be happier and healthier and consume less sugar and processed foods.  Involving children in the kitchen, from a young age, cultivates a habit that will have lifelong benefits. 

4) Helps with physical development. 

Stirring, measuring, rolling, squeezing and spreading are just a few of the kitchen taks that allow young children to develop their fine motor and hand-eye co-ordination skills. 

5) Language, Maths, Science and Creativity.

Children learn by touching, tasting, feeling, smelling, observing, reading and listening.  Cooking offers a great opportunity to help with language development.

Talking and describing what you are doing can expose young children to new words and terms.  They will be able to describe what they see, smell and how things feel etc. 

They learn how to count, recognise numbers on scales, learn mathematical language, more, less, bigger etc.  These are just a few maths skills.

The kitchen is like a mini science lab.  Children can watch materials change colour, texture and form.  They can make predictions and observations, e.g. what happens if you use too much/too little, wrong temperatures etc. 

Children can express their creativity through recipe development and food presentation.  This could be something as simple as deciding what ingredients to add to their salad or creating a healthy menu. 

6) Building Relationships. 

Our kitchen is a great place for us to spend more quality time with children as we talk about our family traditions, shared recipes or it can be a relaxing place where  we catch up with day to day life.  It is also a great environment for friendships to develop as they learn to cooperate, communicate and build stronger relationships. 

7) It Builds Confidence.

The kitchen can be a place to nurture children's self-esteem, confidence and sense of self-worth.  Teaching children to cook provides may opportunities to encourage and celebrate their work. Children feel a great sense of pride when they have successfully baked something and take it home to their families! 

8) It's FUN!  

Last but by no means least, cooking with children is fun for all of us!  

We create lasting memories that your children may treasure forever! 

With all the benefits of cooking, why wait to get started...

Check out some of these recipes below!