Kids’ Corner: Baking together is more than sweet treats
Braidee, Fletcher, Emme, Hattie and Stella Dreher recently made patriotic cake pops. They are the children of Russell and Jade Dreher and enjoy baking together often. (Jen Jones)
In today’s busy world, baking seems to be a lost art. Often, both parents are working and taking the time to bake a treat is just another chore to take care of. However, baking with your children can provide amazing benefits.
Besides having a delicious treat as the end product, baking helps children to develop self-confidence and skills. Using recipes encourages them to become independent and self-directed. Following instructions and problem solving are also important skills that children can learn from baking.
Baking is also a boost to mental health of both children and adults. Children also learn fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination by mixing the ingredients or spreading icing. Cooking allows children to use knowledge they have such as counting and measuring and encourages language development when you talk about each step of the recipe and let the children describe what they see as they add each ingredient.
The Russell and Jade Dreher family spend a lot of time baking together. All five of their children enjoy baking and spending time together in the kitchen. They recently made patriotic cake pops. To make your own cake pops, you will need a cake mix, icing, package of melting chocolate, cake pop sticks and sprinkles.
Prepare the cake as directed. Let it cool and cut the sides and bottom off. Put cake together with icing and use a melon baller to make balls. Put them in the freezer for 20 minutes. Melt chocolate and pour over chilled cake pops. Add sprinkles, insert sticks and enjoy.
The Dreher children enjoy baking with their parents for different reasons. Braidee, 12, said, “I get to be creative.” Emme, 7, likes to try new recipes together. Stella, 5, said, “We do it as a family” and Fletcher, 3, is happy to get a treat at the end.
Few activities offer so many benefits to a child’s development. Not only does their effort create a treat, but the time they spend with you will be something they will always remember.
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