How to Bake Bread With Children

Some of the best childhood memories are born in the kitchen. Giving this opportunity to children is a gift. There are different approaches to baking bread with children. A lot depends on the children and how comfortable you are in an apron.

Things You'll Need

• Large work surface
• Yeast
• Mixing bowls
• Mixing utensils
• Loaf pans
• Aprons
• Flour
• Cheese cloth or kitchen towels
• Ingredients for your recipe

Instructions

1. Keep it fun. Your kitchen is going to get messy, you're going to get messy, and the bread may not turn out perfectly the first time. The goal is to teach a skill while placing the value on time spent with your children.

2. Allow the kids to partake in each step of the bread baking process. You can do this by delegating jobs along the way, or allowing the children to take part in the process as a team. For instance, it could be one child's job to mix the lukewarm water and yeast, as smaller hands may spill much of it. Or, you can make this a group effort by allowing one child to dispense the yeast into the bowl while another adds water and another lightly mixes it.

3. Explain each step thoroughly. In order to keep the children from rushing through any steps, explain the reason behind each. The lukewarm water, for instance, activates the dry yeast, so it's important to set it aside for a full 5 minutes. Kneading the dough too much will produce a stiffer bread that won't taste as good. Not letting the dough rise in the right temperature or long enough results in bread that looks more like pancakes than a loaf.

4. Let the kids make their own loaves. By dividing the dough into smaller portions, the kids can proudly display their own loaves of bread when the baking is done.

References

• Baking process
• Skills