Baking Math: A Fun Way to Work with Numbers
Math. A word that kind of makes me nervous. Big numbers, lots of steps, concepts upon concepts. But what if I told you math can be a really fun thing!
Baking is one of my favorite things to do. I love to make treats and projects with all kinds of ingredients. And while I’m working with my tools and supplies I’m also knee deep in ...MATH! Teaspoons, tablespoons, cups OH MY! Here are some of the key math wonders of baking.
-Introduction of simple concepts. A recipe with steps is a great example. Here we see the idea of following a sequence of steps. Recipes that have clear steps are the best way to start.
-Baking tools such as measuring cups are a great introduction to the concept of smaller vs bigger. They stack in a certain order and letting children work with the cups helps solidify this concept.
-Rolling pins can be a great method for working on hand eye coordination. Keeping dough even is key. Both your eyes and your hands working together makes that happen!
Baking tools are a great way to introduce math!
Cornstarch dough (a little math, a lot of fun!)
I love to bake! I love to craft! This recipe is perfect for both.
Here’s what you will need:
1 Cup Baking Soda
¾ Cup Water
½ Cup Cornstarch
Step 1: Place all your ingredients in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat. Keep stirring and stirring making sure to get all the stuff on the bottom of the pan mixed in. The mixture will begin to get thicker.
Once your mixture starts to look like really delicious mashed potatoes take it off the burner! I found that my dough took about 8 minutes over medium heat. All stoves are different. So just keep a close eye!
Step 2: Put your dough in a bowl and cover the bowl with a wet cloth. Let the dough cool before your take it out to roll.
Step 3: Roll your dough into a nice round ball. Take your rolling pin and begin rolling from the center of the ball. Roll left to right and then bottom to top. Work on keeping your dough nice and even. It takes practice but i know you’ll get it.
Step 4: This is the fun part (well it’s all fun but this is REALLY fun). Cut out shapes in the dough. You can use a cookie cutter like i did or you can cut the dough into squares, triangles, whatever you like. It’s up to you! I love hearts so that’s what I choose. *a little note! Your dough maybe a little sticky as you cut shapes. I find a spatula is helpful to preserve the shape after it is cut. Just gently slide it under the shape and transfer to your baking sheet.
Step 5: Heat up your oven to 175 degrees. Bake your shapes for 1 hour flipping them over after 30 minutes.
Step 6: Now it’s time to decorate! After your shapes have come out of the oven and had a good amount of time to cool you can work with them. I choose to paint this one because I love to paint. But you could use marker or glue things on them. Or even leave them plain. Your choice!
