One of the best life lessons that a child can learn is the lesson of learning how to cook. Cooking and baking are great skills to teach your children, because it helps them understand math in a whole new way. Most of the time, kids don’t even know that they are doing a math lesson at the same time they are baking a cake! That is good news for parents. Getting children to learn math is one of the hardest lessons that you will have to teach them. Not too many children want to learn math, so get them into the kitchen and teach them math the old fashioned way.

Homemade noodles

Homemade noodles are so easy to make that your kids will have a blast. They take about half an hour to make, and only take a few ingredients. One you combine flour and salt in a large bowl, make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add eggs and olive oil, and then mix until it is slightly thin dough. Continue folding dough over on a floured surface until it no longer sticks to your fingers, and before it gets too thick. Roll out dough until about 1/8 of an inch thick, and cut into strips with a knife or pizza cutter. Let the strips of noodles air dry for about 30 minutes, and this will keep them from sticking together when boiling. Boil noodles in soup or stew for about 20 minutes.

• 1 ½ cups flour, plus about 1/8 cup to roll dough out on.
• 1 tsp seal salt.
• 2 large eggs
• 1tsp olive oil

SpongeBob Square-Pancakes

This is a personal favorite of children across the United States. Mickey Mouse pancakes have lost their luster in a day where cartoons have evolved dramatically. Now, you can make a SpongeBob Square-Cake with the same great pancake batter you always use. Just invest in a cheap ketchup squirting bottle, and use it to draw shapes of pancake batter onto a hot pan. For SpongeBob, use wavy lines to create a fully enclosed square. Then add a few little arms and legs. All you have to do now is ladle a scoop of the pancake batter into the middle of the square, and the square you created will fill up with batter. Be careful not to over fill. When the square pancake is cooked, add some eyes and a mouth with whipped cream.

Play dough

What is better than a recipe that kids can play with? Maybe one that is super easy to create. With ½ cup salt, 1 cup flour, and ½ cup water, your kids can make their own batch of play dough. If you choose to add food coloring, only add a few drops. Too much food coloring can stain hands and clothes. The recipe is so simple that you won’t have an excuse to let your kids go without play dough.

Travis Newville
Breckenridge, Michigan