Kids, even as young as two-years old, can add math to meal time. Learning is always more enjoyable when it’s fun. So combine food and math and you’ll be reinforcing math concepts.
1. Counting
Practice counting everything you eat– bites, pieces, chews.
2. Addition
At a restaurant, add up the prices of what your family orders. How much will the meal cost?
3. Division
Since kids always want everything to be fair, work on division with creating “fair shares” of food like cookies or pizza. What is a fair share? How do you know?
4. Multiplication
Learn how to tip 20% but multiplying your restaurant bill by .1 and doubling it.
5. Estimation
Ask your kids to estimate quantity. So, how many 1/4 cups of cereal to you estimate will it take to fill up your cereal bowl?
6. Measurement
Of course, cooking gives children lots of math practice in measurement. Here are some fun cookbooks for kids.
Betty Crocker Kids Cook
William-Sonoma Kids in the Kitchen: Fun Food
Eat Your Math Homework: Recipes for Hungry Minds
Yummy Muffin Recipe
Guilt Free Chocolate Muffins
adapted from Health, March 2008 – one of our favorite recipes!
1 c applesauce
1 tsp canola oil
1/2 sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
3/4 c. oat flour
1/3 c unsweetened cocoa
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c chocolate chip cookies
Mix wet ingredients and dry separately, stir together. Bake for 30 minutes at 350.
Now it’s time for you to eat your math . . .
Photo credit: Darwin Bell / Foter.com / CC BY-NC
