Baking Supplies for Kids

Tart pans are child-sized pie pans.

Baking is an entertaining and educational experience for children. It also serves to increase children's self-esteem since they see a project from the beginning to end, participating in all the steps. Set up a shelf or drawer for all the baking supplies for your child. Add a personalized apron to the basket. Everything will be ready to go when he is.

Safety

Baking involves an oven, which can cause burns. Any time the oven is on there is a chance of fire if something falls on the heating elements. Full-size pot holders are too big for children's hands and can slip. Supply child-sized oven mitts. Teach the child how to use a fire extinguisher. Find one that is on the small side and let the child use it. Then refill. Most extinguishers are not difficult to operate.

Equipment

A full-size rolling pin is too big for children. Gather together a small rolling pin, small bowls, mixing spoons and plastic measuring cups and spoons. Baking teaches children about math through measuring out cups of sugar and flour. It also teaches them about fractions. Before baking, demonstrate how it takes four 1/4 cups to fill a 1-cup container. Use both the dry measuring cups with separate cups for 1/4 cup, 1/2 cup, 1/3 cup and full cups as well as a clear plastic cup for liquids with measurements posted on the side.

Miniature Pans

While the child could bake in standard-sized cake or bread pans, the filled pan is heavy. Assemble a selection of mini bake pans, muffin pans, pie tins, cookie sheets and bread pans. The smaller sizes are lighter for the child to carry from the counter to the oven. As a bonus, the finished baked good is child-sized.

Ingredients

Big containers of flour, sugars and other ingredients are too heavy for children to lift. If you don't have a baking bin outfitted with canisters that you dip from and don't have to lift, use small plastic containers with airtight lids. Each container only needs to hold a few cups of the ingredient. Let the child color the containers with markers and put her name on them. Small containers of vanilla, flavorings, spices and nuts are easier for children to handle. If the child has a spill, the mess is smaller and there's less waste.

Cookbook

Adult cookbooks are filled with narrative and small print with few pictures. That isn't what most children are used to seeing in a book. The primary grades 1 through 3 have large print and pictures. Find a cookbook that is written for children. You might try "The Children's Baking Book" by Denise Smart, "The Usborne Children's Book of Baking" by Fiona Patchett et al., or "The Cooking Book: Fostering Young Children's Learning and Delight" by Laura J. Colker.

References

• The Children's Baking Book; Denise Smart; 2010
• Cjonline: Cookbook Teaches Kids To Bake; Jan Biles; December 2010