Activities

Cooking

When families cook and prepare food, they naturally count, measure, and work with numbers. These recipes offer tips to help parents and caregivers talk about math while cooking with their children. Each recipe has a different math focus: counting, measuring, or adding and subtracting. The math tips can be used when preparing almost any food, not just these recipes.

Tips for Using These Activities with Families

  • Read Math Talk While Cooking Together first to see what kinds of things families can talk about while cooking. The tips can be used with any recipe.
  • Try demonstrating one of the recipes to show families how the tips and recipe instructions work together. The Berry Smoothie is easy to demonstrate because all you need is a blender and fruit. If you don’t have a blender, you can use the math tips from the berry smoothie recipe and make a fruit salad instead.
  • Suggest that families read through the recipe and math tips before cooking.
  • Send families links or screenshots to other recipes on this website (they all follow a similar format).
  • Tell families that using the math tips does not take a lot of extra cooking time. Even one or two minutes spent talking about math helps children learn!
  • Help families brainstorm how to use these tips in recipes they regularly cook at home.
  • Ask families to prepare a favorite meal they usually cook at home using the same math tips from one of these recipes. For example, the tips in the Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe can be used with many other foods that can be split into groups, like empanadas or dumplings. The tips in the Macaroni and Cheese recipe can be used with any dish that uses measuring cups.
  • Math Talk While Cooking Together has some suggestions for how to make each math topic more or less challenging as needed.
  • Some recipes have shortcuts or adaptations included. For example, cookies can be made from scratch or using slice-and-bake dough, and you can still use the same math tips.
  • Once families get comfortable using the recipes, ask them to brainstorm their own tips for starting math conversations while cooking.
  • Every recipe engages families in exploring a different early math concept, including counting, measuring, and adding and subtracting.
  • Numbers & Counting: When working with ingredients that can be picked up (like small pieces of fruit or vegetables), children can count the ingredients one at a time and say how many there are. Learn more about counting.
  • Measurement: Talk about the size of ingredients: Which one is longer, shorter, or wider? Let your child watch and help when you use measuring tools like measuring cups or spoons. Learn more about measurement.
  • Adding, Subtracting & More: Children can practice adding one ingredient or taking one away from a pile and counting to see how many are left. Learn more about adding and subtracting.
  • Math Talk While Cooking Together summarizes these math concepts and explains how children can practice their skills while cooking.
  • Choose a recipe that focuses on a specific math concept:

Tips for Using These Activities with Families

  • Read Math Talk While Cooking Together first to see what kinds of things families can talk about while cooking. The tips can be used with any recipe.
  • Try demonstrating one of the recipes to show families how the tips and recipe instructions work together. The Berry Smoothie is easy to demonstrate because all you need is a blender and fruit. If you don’t have a blender, you can use the math tips from the berry smoothie recipe and make a fruit salad instead.
  • Suggest that families read through the recipe and math tips before cooking.
  • Send families links or screenshots to other recipes on this website (they all follow a similar format).
  • Tell families that using the math tips does not take a lot of extra cooking time. Even one or two minutes spent talking about math helps children learn!
  • Help families brainstorm how to use these tips in recipes they regularly cook at home.
  • Ask families to prepare a favorite meal they usually cook at home using the same math tips from one of these recipes. For example, the tips in the Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe can be used with many other foods that can be split into groups, like empanadas or dumplings. The tips in the Macaroni and Cheese recipe can be used with any dish that uses measuring cups.
  • Math Talk While Cooking Together has some suggestions for how to make each math topic more or less challenging as needed.
  • Some recipes have shortcuts or adaptations included. For example, cookies can be made from scratch or using slice-and-bake dough, and you can still use the same math tips.
  • Once families get comfortable using the recipes, ask them to brainstorm their own tips for starting math conversations while cooking.
  • Every recipe engages families in exploring a different early math concept, including counting, measuring, and adding and subtracting.
  • Numbers & Counting: When working with ingredients that can be picked up (like small pieces of fruit or vegetables), children can count the ingredients one at a time and say how many there are. Learn more about counting.
  • Measurement: Talk about the size of ingredients: Which one is longer, shorter, or wider? Let your child watch and help when you use measuring tools like measuring cups or spoons. Learn more about measurement.
  • Adding, Subtracting & More: Children can practice adding one ingredient or taking one away from a pile and counting to see how many are left. Learn more about adding and subtracting.
  • Math Talk While Cooking Together summarizes these math concepts and explains how children can practice their skills while cooking.
  • Choose a recipe that focuses on a specific math concept:

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