MB's Kitchen

Guest post today! My friend, Mary Beth, over at MB's Kitchen was gracious enough to share with me one of her favorite recipes for the preschool crowd. Check it out!

Preschool children or grade school kids will all love making S'more Brownies.  Find this delicious recipe by clicking here. Make learning FUN this summer by cooking with your children :)  Learning opportunities are hidden everywhere in recipes.  Let your child do the measuring, stirring and pouring.  Cooking with your child increases your child's knowledge in math, science, reading, health and  communication skills.  

Math: Help your child keep those math skills blooming this summer with some YUMMY math in the kitchen. Here are a couple Math Extension Activities for the S'more Brownie Recipe:

100's- Have your child group the marshmallows and chocolate chips into groups of 10.  Can you make 10 groups of 10?  WOW,  you just made 100!  Now add those 100 tasty treats to the top of your delicious brownies.  Be careful... the pan is HOT!

Fractions- Talk about fractions when making the toppings for the brownies. Hand your child 1 whole graham crackers. Then divide the graham cracker in half.  Then divide in half again... talk about 1/2 , 1/4 and 1/8 etc.  Keep breaking the graham cracker into pieces and continue talking fractions. Use these tasty graham cracker pieces for the brownie topping.  

Reading: Have your child read the recipe when baking. If your child is a pre- reader, write each ingredient with the measurement on an index card.  Attach a picture of each item to each word card.  Place the cards in order and ask your child, "What do we need to add next? " Whether they read the word or use the picture as a clue... your child will be a successful reader!

Science:  Cooking is the best science experiment EVER... you get to eat it!  In this recipe, your child can observe the scientific reaction between water and oil.  They learn science concepts such as temperature (hot /cold), floating, sinking, dissolving, and melting. Baking brownies is a great opportunity to discuss solid and liquid. Brownie batter is a liquid and after you bake them, it becomes a solid :)

Fine and Gross Motor Skills: These motor skills increase while cooking through stirring, pouring and breaking graham crackers into tiny pieces.  

Communication Skills: Talk with your child about textures, color and shapes.  Ask questions: What color is the brownie batter? Feel the brownie mix... how does it feel? Learn new vocabulary by adding adjectives to your child's description of their food.  

Health: It's always important to teach your child good habits when cooking.  Always was your hands before handling food and after touching meat, poultry and eggs.

Enjoy this time you and your child have together while cooking  :)

 For more recipes, please visit MB's Kitchen :)

MB

Thanks, Mary Beth! You can check out more fabulous recipes on her website http://www.mbskitchen.com/