Objective

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to apply basic arithmetic skills to solve cooking-related problems.

Materials and Prep

• Measuring cups and spoons
• A recipe book or printed recipes
• Paper and pencil

Prior knowledge: Basic addition and subtraction

Activities

1. Activity 1: Measuring Ingredients

   Choose a simple recipe from the recipe book or print one out. Ask your child to read the recipe and identify the ingredients that require measurement. Together, measure each ingredient using the appropriate measuring cups and spoons. Discuss the concept of fractions by showing how different measurements can be combined to make a whole.

2. Activity 2: Recipe Conversion

   Introduce the concept of recipe conversion by selecting a recipe that serves a different number of people than desired. Ask your child to calculate the adjusted quantities of ingredients needed to serve the desired number of people. Use basic multiplication and division to find the correct measurements.

3. Activity 3: Recipe Cost

   Choose a recipe and assign prices to each ingredient. Ask your child to calculate the total cost of the recipe by adding up the prices of all the ingredients. This activity will reinforce addition skills and introduce the concept of money.

First Grade Talking Points

• "In cooking, we use numbers to measure ingredients and make delicious food!"
• "We can use measuring cups and spoons to measure ingredients accurately."
• "Sometimes we need to change the amount of ingredients in a recipe to make more or less food."
• "We can use addition and subtraction to solve problems in cooking, like adjusting recipes or calculating costs."
• "Math can help us understand how much money we need to buy ingredients for a recipe."