Math can be a difficult subject for some children. Young children in particular have difficulty grasping abstract concepts. Taking math into the kitchen can give substance to those abstract concepts. Get into the kitchen with your kids. It is a fabulous way to teach math through cooking. 

One of the best ways to teach fractions, measurements, addition, and multiplication to young children is to bake cookies.   My favorite recipe to use for teaching math through cooking is Nestle Tollhouse Cookie Recipe found on any bag of Nestle chocolate chips. Start with measurements. Show the students how to measure 1 cup of flour and put it into a bowl. Then have them measure 1 cup of flour again using ½ cup measurements, 1/3 cup measurements and ¼ cup measurements. Talk about the difference in the measuring cups. How are they different? How do you know that four ¼ cups equals 1 cup? Ask them to show you. This is just one way of teaching math through cooking.

 

Another way to teach math through cooking is to double the cookie recipe. Ask the children how you can make enough for 48 people if your recipe only makes 24 cookies. For younger children who are not yet ready to multiply, introduce the concept of doubling and then cutting in half. You can prompt them to think about making two recipes, counting and measuring the ingredients twice. Should you make two separate recipes or just combine it all into one bowl? All of these prompts will help them think about doubling. Ask older children to multiply the recipe measurements by two. Have the children think about this question – if you need to double the ingredients, do you need to double the cooking temperature? Why or why not? Have them write a constructed response to that question. Children who are too young to write can give verbal answers.

 

Cooking can be a valuable tool to teach other math concepts as well. Instead of doubling a recipe, find one that needs to be increased by 1 ½ times. Also find some recipes that require reduction in the amounts used. Practice with verbal counting exercises for fractions; such as two halves equals a whole, etc. You will be amazed at how quickly young children will grasp fractions, adding, subtracting, multiplying and even dividing when you bring them into the kitchen to learn math.

Teaching math through cooking incorporates all of the 5 senses into the learning experience. Young children are tactile learners. By teaching in a way that involves all of their senses you make the lesson concrete and real to them. It is also exciting. Recipes that have lots of fractions are a great place to begin.  Not only will your child be learning, but you will be spending some quality time together.

Exposing students to mathematics as it applies to the context of  their lives is one of the keys to achieving “mathematical literacy.”  "Good literature gives them that context and 'eases' them into the math.  Children think in narrative terms, so you can simply building on that strength."  An easy way to find a book is to go online to Barnes and Noble or Amazon and put a key word and choose children’s books.  You can find a great list of books on your child’s age level, copy down the titles and authors, and then visit your public library to find them. 

A variety of interesting children’s books from your public library focus on or involve substantial mathematics such as If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff.  Numeroff [HarperCollins, 1991]  The main character in the book asks for jam to go with his muffin. Parents can read the story to the child and then make homemade jam.  Your child can learn about fractions while they cook and sample their homemade jam on muffins just like the moose in the story.  Show different types of measuring cups to your child such as 1/3, ½, and a whole cup.  Talk to your child about the concepts of parts and whole.  Use popcorn kernels to demonstrate to your child that it takes 3 scoops of the 1/3 cup to fill the 1 cup and 2 scoops of the ½ cup to fill it.

by John Vernon Lord

Our Raspberry Jam David F. Marx

Easy to Make Jam

The hard thing about making jam is the cooking and the jar-sterilizing. Forget that — go raw instead. Use a potato masher to mash 2 cups of fresh berries, then sprinkle with 1/3 cup of sugar and let it sit out for half an hour. Stir. Add a little lemon juice, or not. Add toast, or not. Keeps three days in the fridge.

The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynn Cherry

If I Ran the Rain Forest: All about Tropical Rain Forests by Bonnie Worth

Rain Forest Popcorn Treats

Makes 8 servings

- 6 cups of popped popcorn

- 3/4 cup cashew nuts

- 1/3 cup dried pineapple

- 1/3 cup dried banana chips

- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

- 1/4 cup coconut

- 3/4 cup chocolate bits

- 1/3 cup dried papaya

- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Star of the Week: A Story of Love, Adoption, and Brownies with Sprinkles by Darlene Friedman

No Bake Brownies Recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate

 2-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preparation:

Spray a 9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Heat sweetened condensed milk and unsweetened chocolate in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat until chocolate is melted and mixture thickens, about 10 minutes.

Remove pan from heat, and stir in the graham cracker crumbs and half of the chopped walnuts.

Spread in the prepared pan. Top with remaining walnuts.

Curious George Goes to an Ice Cream Shop by Alan J. Shalleck

The Ice Cream King by Greg McEvoy,

Hershey's Homemade Ice Cream

Here is a fun food activity that can also be used as a math lesson. How so? This recipe for Hershey's Homemade Ice Cream makes six one-cup servings. But what if you have a small family...or a really hungry daddy? Hershey's would like to give you a visual lesson on fractions and also give you a yummy treat. Are you up for the challenge?

Ingredients:

5 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 cans condensed milk

6 cups Hershey's Chocolate Milk

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

3 oz. semi-sweet melted chocolate

Preparation:

Wash hands. Beat eggs. Add sugar and mix well. Add condensed milk, chocolate milk, melted chocolate, and vanilla one ingredient at a time, stirring well after each addition. Mix until smooth. Pour directly into ice cream mixer or machine. For best results let ice cream freeze over night.

Makes approximately 6 one-cup servings.

The Hershey's Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe serves 6 people. You want to serve the ice cream to 3 people. How much of each ingredient would you need? 

Hershey's Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream - Make the recipe for 3!

Remember: recipe for 6 divided by 2 = recipe for 3

        __________  eggs

        __________  cup sugar

        __________  cans condensed milk

        __________  cups Hershey's Chocolate Milk

        __________  tsp. vanilla

        __________  oz. semi-sweet melted chocolate

Beat eggs.  Add sugar and mix well.  Add condensed milk, chocolate milk, melted chocolate, and vanilla one ingredient at a time, stirring well after each addition.  Mix until smooth.  Pour directly into ice cream mixer or machine.  For best results let ice cream freeze over night.  Makes approximately 3 one-cup servings.

S is for S'mores: A Camping Alphabet  Helen Foster James

Smorz No Bake Bars

2 cups sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter or margarine stick, melted
1 cup oats
3 cups Kellogg's Smorz Cereal
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine sugar, cocoa, milk, and butter. Then stir and boil for 1 1/2 minutes in a large sauce pan. Remove from heat. Next add the remaining ingredients and mix.

Spray no stick spray on a medium cookie sheet and spread mixture out. Let set in refrigerator, then cut into squares and eat and enjoy.

No More Cookies by Paeony Lewis

All in Just One Cookie by Susan Goodman, Timothy Bush (Illustrator)

Oatmeal No Bake Cookies

5 Tablespoons cocoa
2 Cups sugar
1 stick butter or margarine
1/2 Cup milk
3 ½ Cups quick-cook oats
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 Cup coconut
1/4 Cup peanut butter
Mix cocoa, sugar, butter and milk together in saucepan.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, to prevent scorching.  Boil for about one minute and then stir remaining ingredients.  Drop from a teaspoon on wax paper and chill.