COOK with the Summer Learning Challenge

Hello Families,

Welcome to Learning with Joy! Thanks for being here and I hope we can find joy in learning together! I am so glad you have joined the LwJ Summer Learning Challenge. My hope is that this challenge can bring joy, connection, and moments of learning to you and your littles.

As always please remember to use any ideas and tools in a way that works best for you and your family. Always guide and supervise any content your learner uses and the safety of the environment.

LwJ SUMMER LEARNING CHALLENGE TRACKER

(CLICK HERE!)

7/21 Learning Challenge Part 3- COOK

Let’s cook together!

First, a reminder to please make age/developmental/skill-level appropriate choices in any activity and especially while cooking. Safety first and adjust any suggestions and activities below to fit your family's needs and the safety of the environment. You might choose to pre-chop any needed ingredients, mix and create away from the oven, choose a no-bake dessert etc.

We love cooking and baking in our family. Having our daughter involved in food and cooking has always been important to us. Whether that resonates or feels new to you, cooking is a great way to connect, learn, and have fun together. I encourage you to involve your kid(s) with creating a meal or treat this week. Cooking is a great way to incorporate reading, math, life skills, and more. Below are some ways to learn while cooking together. Choose what works best for you (again- what is safe and fitting for age etc.) and have fun!

Reading

Have your child help with reading the recipe.

Independent readers can help you select a recipe, plus read and direct the steps. Have them read the ingredients and even write out a grocery list if needed. Ask them to walk you through the steps of the recipe and let them take the lead by reading.

For those readers that are still learning, you can read with them. Having the recipe printed is helpful when possible. You can have them look through and highlight a specific letter or sound or sight words they are working on before reading. You can also echo read by reading the instruction first and having them read it after.

For our youngest learners- simply model reading the recipe and talk through what you are doing.(ie. “first I read the ingredients. It says….” -point with your finger under the words as you read.)

Math

If your child is working on fractions- baking is a great way to practice, visualize and apply fractions. Set out your measuring cups and spoons before and discuss what each one measures. Then work together using the measurements of the recipe.

Younger kids can practice counting by counting out the number of cups or teaspoons while adding to a bowl.

Life-Skills

Have fun with it! Cooking is an incredible skill to pass along to our learners. It can also build fine motor skills with mixing or mashing, communication skills while working together to complete a task, and a memorable bonding experience as a family!

Reflect

When you are done, be sure to enjoy what you made together. While you're eating you can reflect by asking:

What did you learn today?
What was your favorite part of making this?
What’s one recipe you want to make next?

Recipe Ideas

These are simply ideas to share and are outside links that LwJ is not associated with.

3 No-Cook Recipes

Our Favorite Muffins

**These are my go-to muffins! I love them. We usually eat about half within the week and I freeze the other half. They are great heated up quickly in the microwave or I toss them in a snack/lunch bag and then they are thawed when it’s time to eat them on the go!

Happy Cooking and I wish you a joyful day!

LOOKING FOR MORE?

If you enjoy the blog and LwJ content, be sure to check out my TPT shop for well-priced printables to boost learning and growing at home or in the classroom.

Miss B’s Picks- Stasher Bags!

Need to store some of your meal or snack that you cooked for later? Stasher Bags (amazon associate link) are my favorite reusable zip lock bags (seriously they work so well, over and over again, even in the freezer- I love them) Plus find more favs on the MISS B’s PICKs page!