Kindergartners learning letter sounds may find reading an entire recipe daunting. However, early readers can associate symbols and pictures, also called rebuses, along with minimal wording. Use pictures of the actual ingredients to help children clearly interpret those images by their colors, shapes and packaging. The Kids' Cooking Activities and Hubbard's Cupboard are two providers of simple, ready-made rebus recipes. An alternative method is to create original picture recipes.
Classroom cooking gives children lots of counting practice and introduces fractional measurement. They practice addition, subtraction, multiplication and division when doubling or halving recipes or when sharing snacks equally. Using a cooking timer also teaches children to have a more accurate sense of the passage of time.
Multicultural studies can serve as a reason to introduce simple recipes from other countries. When studying plant parts, students can brainstorm for salad ingredients from each part of the plant and create an original recipe. The key is to keep it simple with just a few ingredients and instructions to avoid overwhelming kindergartners with long, complicated preparations that exceed their attention spans.
For an ambitious cooking project that boosts literacy and math, try setting up a bake shop with food items made with adult supervision in an Easy-Bake Oven or toaster oven. Children design a menu of cookies, brownies, biscuits, fudge, pretzels, muffins, s'mores, donuts, cakes, pies, Rice Krispies Treats, pizza, nachos, popcorn and more. No-bake options include salads, sandwiches or pudding. Necessary supplies span from recipes, mixing bowls, hot pads,and utensils to cold- and room-temperature storage for ingredients and a classroom money system. Children practice writing through taking food orders and leaving customer comments. Counting money, as well as calculating costs and discounts, provide math practice.