Cooking Up Curiosity: Simple Recipes for Home Ec
Home Ec Recipes for Every Age: Simple and Fun
Cooking recipes together is a quick go-to home ec task that can be informal and fun. Whether you are making a snack or cooking a whole meal together, there are endless learning opportunities that your child probably won’t even realize!
Here are some quick things your child can learn while they are cooking/baking with you:
- How to Read – reading a recipe format with steps
- Measurements – conversions and finding a tablespoon versus a 1/4 cup
- Making a single, double or triple batch (multiplying for older children!)
- Hands – on measuring and checking, pouring, fine motor skills and mixing
- Independent and creative learning – taking pride in creating something yummy!
- Expression, creativity and communication skills while creating food.
Recipes for Your Little Homeschooler
While these recipes may be challenging for a little child to do all by themselves, these are recipes that are easy to do together. I love making Nana’s special recipe of pancakes with my kids because they can dump in the flour that I measured or I can help them measure. They can stir, they can mix, they can help me find measuring spoons. These recipes are the best because they are versatile and adaptable for ANY AGE.
What they are learning: measurement, motor skills, timing, amounts and safety on stove and counters.
Bread Machine Donut Dough (Air fryer or fried)
Homemade donuts may seem challenging or difficult, but with a bread machine you can whip up delicious donuts in 30 minutes or less! Even if you mix this donut dough by hand, it’s a fun way to teach your elementary or middle school child how to bake with a yummy result! We put everything in the machine, then put on “dough” setting and let it go. Then all we have to do is roll it out and bake the donuts! Easy!
Recipes for Your Elementary Homeschooler
Making a salad is a fun and simple way for a child to learn about proportions and helping out safely. If child is very young, you can pre-cut the amounts for them. Then they can “toss” the salad together and have fun with their food. They can also help find the serving spoon for the salad and types of dressings.
Typically a lot of these salad ingredients are pre made or in a bag so the child can easily scoop and put them in the bowl. Older children can possibly shred the carrots or slice the vegetables.
Recipes for Your “Big Kid” Homeschooler
I recently let our middle son who is 11 years old, learn how to use a big knife to chop vegetables. I had some trepidation giving him this task but also realized he won’t learn true safety when cooking and chopping unless he practices.
After showing him the correct way to hold the knife and how to hold the veggies to slice them (without hurting your fingers!) he tried it slowly. After a while he got the hang of it and now is happy to help slice up celery, carrots, onions and more for a quick snack, salad or side.
Cooking Skills
- Using a large knife to chop or cut.
- Boiling water and making noodles.
- Follow a full recipe from start to finish.
- Learn how to fry and/or sauté in pan.
- Make rice a roni or other rice.
- Handling oven mitts and taking out and putting in pans into oven (start with lower temps and show them how to slowly place items in and out of oven with mitts)
Assembling
- Assemble meat and sauce together like spaghetti.
- Make a full salad.
- Learn how to assemble a full meal with toppings and sides together like burgers.
- Learn how to assemble a hot meal starting with separate pans and then combining when ready (such as sautéed vegetables into a sauce and adding sauce to pasta)
Cooking Safety
- Learn about raw meats and using one cutlery and cutting board for meat then cleaning surface thoroughly.
- Washing hands before and after handling raw meats.
- Separating working surfaces for meats vs. vegetables/fruits
- Keeping oil heat low to avoid splatter and burns.
- Distance of working with stove heat and oven heats.
Home Ec can be anything anyday! Try a few recipes and see how it goes. The goal is to make it fun and part of the everyday life. Have a child help you prepare a meal or set up the meal and before you know it, you are learning!