Adult-led activities
Bake me a cake
Children love to play with dough and this activity is sure to engage them in lots of mathematical and imaginative learning experiences.
Key learning intentions
To use numbers in a practical context
To develop an understanding of measurement
To use and develop imaginative ideas through play
Adult:child ratio 1:4
Resources
Plain flour water table salt vegetable oil cream of tartar food colouring recipe card for making dough (see below) spices vanilla and peppermint essence jug 4 plastic cups 4 bowls 4 spoons rolling pins biscuit cutters baking trays cake and bun tins (with each space numbered) chocolate boxes and trays paper sweet and bun cases plastic storage boxes and cake tins folded card pens till paper bags Making dough
Quantities for making dough are as follows: 2 cups flour, 2 cups water, 1 cup salt, 2 tablespoons oil, 2 teaspoons cream of tartar, a few drops of food colouring.
Preparation
Prepare the dough area as you would for a baking activity and make sure that aprons are available.
Activity content
* Show the children the dough recipe card and, as they add ingredients to their bowls, support them in reading the quantities. Encourage them to count cups and spoonfuls of ingredients.
* Model the use of key vocabulary and encourage the children to use appropriate mathematical language.
* When all the ingredients have been added and mixed together, cook the dough (this can be done in a microwave or on a cooker hob) and leave it to cool.
* Ask the children to smell the spices and essences and to select 'smells' to add to their dough.
* Encourage them to use the dough imaginatively to make sweets, biscuits, buns and cakes.
* Set up a bakery role-play area where children can display and 'sell' their cakes and confectionery. Encourage them to make name and price labels.
Extending learning
Key vocabulary
Number names, full, empty, more, less, heavy, light, big, bigger, small, smaller
Questions to ask
How many cups of flour do you need? How many more will you need? How many more spoonfuls do you think you will need to fill the cup? Which feels heavier - a cup full of water or a cup full of flour? How many bun cases do we need if we are going to make a bun for each of the group? How many spaces are left in the bun tin when we have put four cases in?
Extension ideas
* Provide dough recipe sheets to give out to parents and carers. Discuss with them the benefits of children playing with dough and encourage them to share the experience at home.
* Provide any additional resources necessary to support children's play as it progresses.
* Use children's made buns and cakes as props when you sing the number rhyme 'Five currant buns in a baker's shop'. Provide real penny coins for children to use to 'buy' a currant bun.
* Sing 'Pat-a-cake' with children, marking their 'cakes' with the first letter of their name and talking about different letter shapes, names and sounds.
Child-initiated learning
Home corner
Plan to bake a real cake in the setting to celebrate a child's birthday and follow up the experience by enhancing provision in the home corner.
Additional resources
Kipper's Birthday by Mick Inkpen (Hodder Children's Books, 4.99) large plastic mixing bowl flour sifter empty packets or boxes of flour, sugar, currants, cherries and margarine wooden spoons play eggs play cake (or dough cake made by children in the malleable materials area) play oven oven gloves birthday candles cake board cake frill cake decorations birthday cake recipe card
Possible learning experiences
* Talking about key characters and events in the story of Kipper's Birthday.
* Retelling the story.
* Representing ideas from the story through role play.
* Interacting with others, negotiating roles and discussing ideas.
* Talking about, and representing, own experiences of birthdays and baking.
* Attempting to read recipe cards and books using clues from photographs.
* Pretending to add ingredients to the bowl and to stir the 'mixture', explaining actions and stages in the process.
* Dividing and sharing cakes.
* Talking about the changes that take place during baking.
The practitioner role
* Read Kipper's Birthday to the children.
* Remind children of the processes involved in baking a real cake, perhaps using photographs of their own baking experiences as prompts.
* Engage in imaginative and role play with the children.
* Model the skills involved in baking and use appropriate language such as 'hot', 'cold', 'mix', 'stir'.
Sand area
Additional resources
Water washing-up liquid (check first if any of the children are allergic to it) jugs plastic mixing bowls wooden spoons metal spoons hand whisks spatulas baking tins beads buttons wooden craft 'lolly' and 'match' sticks gravel
Possible learning experiences
* Exploring additional resources using senses as appropriate.
* Commenting on the changes that take place as sand and water are mixed together and experimenting with consistency.
* Making decisions and operating independently.
* Comparing weights and amounts and using mathematical language such as 'heavy' and 'light'.
* Counting objects and spoonfuls of sand.
* Using tools appropriately and with control.
* Developing physical skills through actions such as stirring and whisking.
* Engaging in imaginative and role play with other children, making and decorating cakes.
* Talking about and developing imaginative ideas.
* Using one object to represent another, for example, using beads as cherries, gravel as currants, match sticks as candles.
The practitioner role
* Talk with children about their experiences of baking.
* Support children in whipping the sand with washing-up liquid and a little water to produce a mousse consistency.
* Model imaginative ideas.
* Ask challenging questions, such as, What ingredients do we need to mix together to make a cake? What could we use to decorate the cake?
* Provide resources over a period of time to enable children to revisit activities.
Malleable materials
Additional resources
Packet of roll-out icing small cardboard boxes or plastic margarine tubs rolling pins packet of icing sugar fondant sweet cutters sieves or tea strainers photographs of celebration cakes tubes of coloured 'squeezy' icing cake boards cake decorations such as, candles, silver balls, plastic greetings, ribbons.
Possible learning experiences
* Finding out about the properties of roll-out icing.
* Using hands to knead, squeeze and stretch the icing.
* Creating and talking about solid and flat shapes.
* Rolling out icing and shaping over a box to represent a cake.
* Observing and discussing what happens to the icing as it dries out.
* Talking about different celebration cakes that they have seen, including their own birthday cakes, and comparing photographs of cakes.
* Decorating their 'cakes', exploring pattern and positioning objects purposefully.
The practitioner role
* Ask parents to provide photographs of children with birthday cakes.
* Knead the icing to make it more pliable before giving it to children.
* Encourage children to talk about their experiences and their work.
* Display the children's cakes.
* Use simple mathematical language related to number, shape, size and position as you work with children.
Project guide
This project recognises that:
* settings should be constantly resourced and organised in such a way as to offer learning opportunities across all areas of the Foundation Stage curriculum
* topics can enhance basic provision and respond to children's interests
* children need plenty of first-hand experiences and time to develop ideas, skills and concepts through play
* the practitioner has a vital role in supporting children's learning.
This project, therefore, suggests:
* adult-led activities for introducing the theme
* resources that enhance basic provision and facilitate learning through child-initiated play
* how the practitioner can support children's learning.
When using the project, practitioners should recognise that:
* activities should be offered and never imposed on children
* children's experiences, and learning, may differ from those anticipated
* the learning, planned or unplanned, that takes place is valid
* the process is very valuable and should not be undermined by an inappropriate emphasis on outcomes or concrete end results.
The areas of learning are:
Personal, social and emotional development
Communication, language and literacy
Mathematical development
Knowledge & understanding of the world
Physical development
Creative development
