Baking: Precision Not Required

I love cooking with my son, but at 25 months there are still plenty of meals that don't have a suitable task for him or at least not enough to keep him feeling involved the whole time. That's why I love to bake with him. Even though I know we don't need sweets in our house because we both really love them (especially while I'm pregnant!) and Husband does not, meaning there's more for me and T to eat than we should. The process, the time with my son doing something we both enjoy, is worth the extra willpower (okay, really the extra calories) that comes with baking. 

21 Months Old

T helps from the first line of the recipe until it's time to put the cake/cookies/bread in the oven. All I have to do is ask if he wants to bake with me, and he grabs a dining chair from around the table and pushes it into position at the kitchen island. As we measure the dry ingredients like flour and sugar, I show him how much we need on a large measuring cup, pointing to the line we are trying to reach and telling him the quantity. Then he uses a smaller measuring cup to scoop the ingredient while I hold the container for him. He scoops flour, and we end up with a light (or sometimes heavy) dusting on the floor, the chair, the counter and us. He knows we have to shake the big measuring cup to level it out and then check if we hit the target amount. Once we have enough, he pours the ingredient into a bowl. Sometimes he wants to sift the flour either with his sifter or a mesh strainer. As he sifts and pours the measured ingredient, some of the ingredient always ends up outside of the bowl, and so I eye-ball a little extra to throw in the bowl. Then, we start with the next ingredient.

19 Months Old

He loves to stir or whisk the ingredients together, to pour the dry ingredients into the wet and generally to be hands on with the whole process of mixing together our batter or dough. He stirs vigorously at times and likes to spoon clumps of the batter and hold it up high. At every step along the way, we lose some of the mixture or raw ingredients. 

25 Months Old

When it comes time to add the eggs, he cracks them into a bowl, one at a time for me. He previously tried to complete the whole process himself but lately has been cracking the eggs and then allowing me to remove the shell. I'm trying to re-encourage him to complete the whole process. Still, he cannot get enough. After each egg, he enthusiastically calls out "MORE!" If he had his way, we would crack a whole dozen into every cake. 

I try to keep all the ingredients out of his reach except the one we are using; otherwise, he will make his own recipes when he feels I'm taking too long getting something ready for him. He does have favorite ingredients like salt and baking soda, but he will even try to throw a bulb of garlic into the dough if it's within reach. 

This is not precision baking like we are so often told by the professionals baking must be. There's not an exact ratio between ingredients that is carefully measured and perfectly executed. This is fun and messy and a great series of practical life activities... oh yeah, and it's delicious. Even without the precision, our baked goods are yummy!

I'll post soon about the many other activities that T loves in the kitchen when we are not baking. How do you get your kids involved in the kitchen? Do you have favorite recipes to make with them?