The importance of play for kids’ development 

Young children make sense of the world through play, and there’s even evidence to show that play in early childhood can influence the way the brain develops. Play helps develop problem-solving skills, imagination and creativity, language and observation skills, and memory and concentration. 

It helps children build skills for later life, including: 

• confidence
• self-esteem
• resilience
• interaction
• independence
• curiosity
• coping with challenging situations

Play is a key part of developing social skills too – exploring their feelings, developing self-discipline, learning how to express themselves and working out emotional aspects of life. Combining cooking and play also means you can introduce some important life skills to your little one as early as possible too. From mashing, stirring and spooning ingredients onto scales for the under 3s, and weighing, mixing, sieving and rolling for the under 5s, to cutting, grating, measuring and peeling for the under 7s.

Dr. Oetker’s Bake a Lesson Worksheets 

Science lesson: Fossil cookies 

What they’ll learn about: 

Have you ever been to a museum and seen the skeleton of a dinosaur? That skeleton might look like it’s made up of bones, but those bones are actually bone-shaped stones called fossils! Fossils have been found in rocks of all ages, going back billions of years and they show us how living things and the environment have changed since the time they were alive.

What they’ll do: 

In this worksheet, little ones from four to ten will learn all about fossils and how to make 12 delicious fossil cookies in just 75 minutes.

Art lesson: Marshmallow paint 

What they’ll learn about: 

Have you ever made a piece of art that looks so good you could eat it? Well with marshmallow paint, you can do just that! Painting with marshmallow paint on a biscuit is a fun way to not
only get creative but make a tasty treat too!

What they’ll do: 

In this worksheet kids aged four to seven will learn how to make marshmallow paint. But also about the different colours and how you can use them for your art. This simple recipe takes just 10 minutes. 

Geography lesson: Volcanoes 

What they’ll learn about: 

Did you know that deep underground the rock is extremely hot, so hot that it becomes a liquid known as magma! Sometimes this liquid makes its way to the surface forming a volcano. Lava comes out of the volcano as a volcanic eruption along with gases and ash. Volcanoes mostly appear on the edge of the tectonic plates which fit together to make up the Earth’s crust – kind of like a giant jigsaw. 

What they’ll do: 

In this worksheet, kids aged six to twelve can learn all about volcanoes. And even better they get to make some volcano cupcakes too, in just 60 minutes. 

Tips for making learning fun with food

Cooking with kids is all about the fun and the food. You want your kids to enjoy eating their creations, but also to fall in love with the process of cooking and baking. And that’s where the fun comes in! Here are six top tips to bring the fun: 

1. Get colourful 

Kids enjoy working with colour, and they love to mix it up and create something new. Whilst this can be great fun for older ones to create edible art projects, it’s also ideal for little ones just learning about primary colours and how mixing them can create different shades and tones. 

2. Bring some science into the mix 

Everyone loves a good science experiment. Yes baking by itself is always fun, but it’s super exciting when you can make stretchy slime or squashable jelly bubbles for example. It’s also a great way to teach kids about science and what it means to experiment – testing theories and seeing if they work out in real life. You can get a bit messy too! 

3. Don’t forget to taste 

Half of the fun with food is in the tasting. And you don’t have to wait to the end to sample your creations either. Everyone remembers licking the bowl when they were kids, but you can also bring taste testing into your experiments too. What about a blind taste test of various ingredients and flavours? Simply use a blindfold, dip a spoon into different foods and get tasting and guessing. It’s super fun and also a good way to help your kids develop a great palate for food. 

4. Shape it up 

Baking dinosaur shapes, cutting fruit into funky shapes or using moulds and cookie cutters to create stars and moons, it’s all so much fun! Plus you get to have a handy lesson too about what the object is. A lesson about the stars and planets is always so much more enjoyable if you get to eat some star cookies too! 

5. Start with a blank canvas and get creating 

Simple cookies, a piece of toast or a pancake are all wonderful blank canvasses to encourage kids to create edible artworks with icing, fruit, jam, chocolate sauce and whatever you have in your kitchen. When there are no rules of what they should create, they can let their imagination run wild. 

6. Embrace the mess 

Half of the fun of cooking for kids is getting messy. We’re talking batter on hands, flour on faces and melted chocolate everywhere. Strict rules on mess will instantly make it feel like work and not play for kids. 

Which means you have no choice but to embrace the chaos! But you can also do little things to make sure accidents don’t happen and new skills are learnt in the process. A little one measuring flour straight over a bowl could spell disaster, instead get them to measure it out into small bowls. And don’t stress if eggs get more smashed than cracked. Try to keep the mood light, offer some guidance and let them try again. As they keep going they’ll eventually master the skills and will feel a real sense of achievement.

Check out our spectacular science cake mixes 

Now you can turn baking into edible science and discover the fun with our Spectacular Science Baking Mixes! This unique range of four kids’ baking mixes allows you and your kids to create edible science in your own home. Each pack includes the ingredients you need to bake and decorate 12 cupcakes, as well as a fun activity sheet to guide you through the baking journey and learn about the exciting science behind it.

It’s time to have some fun in the kitchen! 

Looking for more fun recipe ideas? Check out the rest of our kid’s baking recipes.