Tips on how parents can instill everyday Mathematical skills in the kitchen
Mathematics has a vast role to play in our daily life. It has incorporated itself so deeply into our everyday endeavors that we don’t even realize how often we are required to perform, but contemplate this — how frequently do you check how much time you have left before a meeting? Or double or halve the ingredients of a recipe? Or compare the costs of one product to another?
One easy yet productive way parents can encourage their children to develop Mathematical understanding is by introducing Mathematics into everyday situations, like cooking and daily kitchen activities.
To make it simpler for parents, I have collected some daily Mathematical activities to try at home with your children to help strengthen their connection with Mathematics and answer the question:
How do you use Mathematics in day-to-day life?
i. Establishing a solid foundation and clear concepts of numbers is a crucial first step towards deeply integrated Mathematical understanding. This everyday Mathematics activity for students aged 5–6 helps develop their sense of numbers and lets children practice using Mathematical terms. Engage your child during kitchen tasks; by encouraging them to count the number of fruits on the palate, the number of spoons and forks on the table.
ii. Cooking with your child is the best opportunity to practice telling the time and encourage their understanding of time durations. Try this Mathematics activity with children aged 6–7 to develop their sense of time and apply their skills in day-to-day life. Engage your child by asking them to calculate the amount of time it took for a dish to be ready, the time it took to prepare the food, etc.
iii. Fractions seem to be quite daunting at a first glance, but when given further context, fractions are quite easy to solve. To implement the use of fractions in the kitchen with your child, try comparing them with concrete examples; such as 4/6 seems complicated but when explained further with the example of a pizza divided into 6 pieces and 4 pieces given to a friend, the concept becomes much clearer.
iv. A clear understanding of the concepts of mass is very important. Furthermore, this concept proves itself to be very useful when implemented in the kitchen. Encourage your child to convert grams into kilograms, compare the mass of different products, etc. Before starting the process of cooking, ask your child to measure the mass of the items before and after use.
v. Volume is a very interesting and unique concept and it becomes even more interesting when put to use in the kitchen. Encourage and ask your child to calculate the volume of the boxes, containers, and crockery by guessing the amount of food that can be fit realistically in that certain box.
vi. Sometimes, you are required to increase or decrease the amount given in recipes. Engage your child by encouraging them to convert grams into milligrams, into kilograms, and so on. Ask them to convert liquid measurements from liters to milliliters.
By performing these day-to-day activities, you can easily help your child to develop a strong bond with Mathematics, and a love for cooking and baking as well. Have a good learning experience!
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