It can get a little nerve racking having a preschooler at home all day, that’s to say the least. You can save yourself a headache or 12 by getting your preschooler involved in your daily homemaking activities. Cooking with kids can be fun and educational!
I don’t know any preschooler who isn’t ready and willing to help mom around the house, just a little hobby homemaker in training. Of course having your mini me help out will benefit you, but it will also prepare your preschooler for their next step, the BIG K. Involving your preschooler in the homemaking will increase their attention span, give them a sense of responsibility, introduce math skills, and improve their hand eye coordination.
One of a preschoolers favorite activities is cooking! They get to make a mess and when it’s all said and done they get to eat their masterpiece. I know that some moms get a little nervous with the thought of a potential mess, but it’s part of the learning process. Your job is to assist without taking over, just enjoy the process.
Here’s a step by step recipe on cooking with kids – make pancakes preschool style!
You can find the wheat free pancake recipe used in this homemaking activity at ummishouse.com.
First you’re going to gather and pre-measure all of the ingredients. Split everything up into separate bowls because the best part of cooking for a preschooler is the pouring and scooping. Put the flour in one bowl, the other dry ingredients in another bowl, the wet ingredients except milk in its own bowl. You’ll also need a measuring cup for milk, measuring cups for the flour and measuring spoons for the other dry ingredients. Don’t forget the empty mixing bowl for your preschooler to pour their ingredients in.
Now, let the fun begin!
You want to have at least 2 different sized measuring cups and spoons available. This will increase your preschooler’s math awareness; they’ll start to recognize that the larger cup/spoon will hold more than the smaller one. It helps to add an extra tablespoon of flour to account for spills.
This may be the cringe moment for some, but let your preschooler measure the milk, and you can try pointing to the stop line before they begin. This will test their memory and ability to follow directions. If it doesn’t look like they’ll stop just say when. For this step, it helps to be working on a surface that is below the preschoolers waist. If the jug of milk is to heavy just put it in a lighter container for them to pour from.
Yay! Great job! Your preschooler is well on his/her way to becoming a pancake making expert. I find this to be way better than a sensory table, plus it’s hands on and delicious!
I should do this more! You are right, I’m holding back because of the mess factor. Great pictures, I love seeing the little miss in action baking 🙂
It really does keep them entertained and feeling satisfied with their accomplishment.
Yep, same here….the mess factor. How timely, my six year old helped me make banana bread yesterday. She’s such a helper. I think I was really more mindful of getting into it and making it an enjoyable experience and including her more, but I could have let her help withe more steps. We talked a lot about what we were doing at various stages, and why. I really tried to stress the importance of cleating up as you go because I guess I didn’t stress it enough with my older kids
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