Kids Cuisine

Editor’s note: We have a guest poster this week, my mother-in-law Kathleen. She blogs about parenting and education at Max CrackerJack and Max Kathleen.

It was a warm spring afternoon when I suggested the neighborhood kids, ranging in age from four to six, take the baby food jars outside and fill each about 1/3 full of dirt. They seemed reluctant as they headed toward the back door and it was Jennifer who spoke up saying “Isn’t 1/3 a fraction? We haven’t had fractions yet.”

My first thought? These kids need to get cooking!

For basic math concepts like fractions to make the leap from a lesson in a textbook to an everyday experience, children need to develop an intimate number sense. When children are able to meet fractions in the kitchen prior to their arrival in the classroom, they will KNOW that 1/4 + 1/4 they can’t be 1/8 (a common error among those new to fractions) – they may not know the algorithm, but they can visualize a concrete representation of these fractions. They can “see and feel” 1/4 + 1/4 = 1/2.

To achieve fractional facility, not only do kids and adults need to cook together often and for fun, adults need to narrate and play games with the amounts. Depending on your child’s age and familiarity with cooking and math, some of the following activities will be appropriate. A few words of caution - don’t try to do too many activities at once. You want the “fun with fractions” to be seamlessly incorporated into the cooking. You do NOT want your child to feel like the cooking project is a rouse to “sneak” in some math (even if it is!).

1) “What if we have extra guests?”
Look at the recipe together, talk about the measurements, begin with the whole numbers of things like “2 eggs” or “1 stick of butter.” Ask your child how many eggs or how much butter you would need if you wanted to double the recipe. What if you wanted to only make half as much? Set the scene for these queries by noticing the yield – if the recipe says it serves 6, suggest you have 12 people coming for dinner or, if your family is small, what if you want the recipe to only serve 3 people. Play around with the ingredient amounts, halving and doubling.

2) “Wrap your tongue around these words!”
When you look at the recipe, use math words when examining the fractions – talk about the number on the “top” of the fraction as the numerator and the number on the bottom as the “denominator.” Many math students are so overwhelmed with the vocabulary they stop listening before the calculations begin. Hearing these words early and often at home makes them familiar long before the math book is opened.

3) “No matter how you write it.”
As you look at the numerators and denominators, point out that any fraction, such as 1/4 can be written with the line between the numerator and denominator at a diagonal or horizontal. Tiny differences like this are invisible to our eyes, but kids see them and don’t see those two fractions as identical.

4) “Liquid Hypothesis”
Using a one-cup measuring cup with the fractions labeled, and a measuring cup that is only 1/4 cup, ask which one should be used for measuring 1/4 cup. Your child is likely to pick the individual 1/4 cup. Have the child fill it with water and dump the water into the one-cup measure – notice how it fills it to the 1/4 line. Ask your child to may a guess or hypothesis as to what line the water will be if you fill up the 1/4 cup again and dump another 1/4 cup of water into the measuring cup. Repeat until the cup is full. Talk about how it takes 4 of the 1/4 cups to fill the whole measuring cup. Discuss how if you could cut the one-cup measuring cup into four equal parts, each would look like your little 1/4 cur measure. Next time you cook repeat this activity with 1/3 and 1/2.

5) “The Mystery of the Missing Cup”
The recipe calls for 1/4 cup of some ingredient, so you ask your child what you’d do if you had a tablespoon in your measuring set, but no measuring cups. Free feel to insert your background story here. Did a bear sneak in your kitchen in search of honey and take your measuring cups? Did the maybe the cups went off in search of adventure. But the crux of the problem is - how can the tablespoon help? Lead your child to make a hypothesis as to how many tablespoons are in 1/4 cup, then test the hypothesis with the tablespoon, measuring cup and water. You may want to continue this game with more missing measuring cups and varying amounts need 1/2 cup? need 3/4 cup? need 1 cup? Each time have your child think about how many tablespoons would be needed to replace the missing measuring cups.