At Grace Early Years (GEY), we recently hosted an exciting event that combined fun, learning, and, of course, cookies! Our Cookie Fun Baking Day brought together students from ages 3 to 5, as well as our Year 6 students, for a day of hands-on learning. It was a wonderful opportunity to explore key academic skills in a practical, engaging way while creating delicious treats.
Young Learners: Ages 3-5
Our younger students were introduced to the world of baking, learning valuable skills while having fun in the kitchen. Through this experience, they not only gained practical cooking skills but also explored key concepts in math and science.
Math Skills: Baking provided a fantastic chance for our youngest learners to develop their understanding of numbers, measurements, and quantities. They measured ingredients using cups and spoons, giving them hands-on experience with numbers in a real-world context. Tasks such as dividing the dough into equal portions also helped them explore the basic concepts of fractions, addition, and subtraction.
Science Skills: Baking is a perfect example of how science can be applied in everyday life. Our students discovered how heat transforms dough into cookies and observed how different ingredients, like baking powder, help the dough rise. The changing textures smells, and appearances of the cookies as they baked also provided valuable lessons in cause and effect.
Practical Skills: Baking also teaches important life skills. The children learned how to mix ingredients, roll dough, and carefully place cookies on a baking tray. These tasks helped develop their fine motor skills and encouraged teamwork as they worked together and took turns.
Year 6 Students: A More Advanced Challenge
The Cookie Fun Baking Day wasn’t just for the younger students. Our Year 6 learners also took part in a more advanced baking experience, applying their math and science knowledge to a higher level.
Advanced Math Skills: For our older students, the baking process offered an opportunity to deepen their understanding of measurements and proportions. They were challenged to adjust recipes, learning to double or halve ingredients based on the number of cookies they needed to make. This required them to work with more complex fractions and ratios, helping to reinforce their math skills in a practical setting.
Scientific Exploration: Year 6 students delved into the chemistry behind baking. They explored how ingredients like butter, sugar, and eggs interact when mixed and heated. They also experimented with baking at different temperatures to observe how it affected the texture and colour of their cookies. This hands-on experiment helped them connect theoretical scientific concepts to real-life applications.
Practical Skills: In addition to refining their baking techniques, the Year 6 students took on greater responsibility in the kitchen. They managed tasks such as setting timers and regulating oven temperatures. These activities not only honed their cooking skills but also promoted problem-solving and teamwork.
The Sweet Reward: Tasty Cookies
After all the hard work, the best part was enjoying the freshly baked cookies! The students proudly sampled their creations, sharing them with friends and teachers. It was a wonderful way to celebrate the skills they had developed throughout the day.
It’s always a delight to see children learning in such an enjoyable and practical way. Cookie Fun Baking Day was a perfect blend of education and fun, allowing our students to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to real-world experiences. Plus, they ended the day with a delicious treat—a sweet reward for all their hard work!
We look forward to hosting more events like this in the future, as we continue to make learning both fun and meaningful for our students. After all, there’s nothing better than learning through creativity and, of course, a good cookie!
