Measuring and Learning

This is sort of a sneaky learning tip to use with children and can save money, wasted products, and tempers. When you are having your little ones help you make a cake, cookies, etc., pull a chair up to the sink for them to stand on and tell them that you need 1/2 cup of water. Show them the 1/2 cup mark, explain what it means and then put the measuring cup in the sink and let them fill it from the tap or a plastic glass. If they spill, it's only water and it's in the sink and tempers don't flare.

It's easier for them to pour something into something else if it's lower than they are. When they get it right, pour the water in a pot that you have on the stove. When the kids aren't looking, water the plants later on with this water. Ask them for different amounts of water so that they will learn their fractions. This way, they are helping and learning fractions. Win/win.

Eventually, when they get better at measuring, you can use real ingredients, but not something that they can't handle like a gallon of milk. Let them practice with a larger container of water, like an old milk container, to pour stuff so they get used to pouring.

Putting your mixing bowl in the sink on a towel makes it easier for them to handle a hand mixer when they are ready for this, and it's easier for an elderly person, who can't hold their arms up past counter height, to mix things without strain. And, again, if there are any spills or accidents, everything is in the sink and will go right down the drain.

I taught my kids like this and they had no idea they were learning :)