Both my children (Aaliya 6yrs & Rehan 3 yrs) love eating bread. Chai and bread is their favourite evening snack. We usually buy bread once a week from a nearby bakery. To my surprise, one morning as we made sandwiches I found, there were tiny cockroaches baked into the bread. That got me thinking about the hygiene and kitchen condition of commercial bakeries. The following Sunday we decided to bake bread together. We spent half a day making the bread and my children and I learnt so many things through this!

1. Selecting the right recipe (Decision Making Skills)

We opened up the youtube app on my phone and watched a few videos. It was my 6 year old daughter who selected the recipe. She decided, for first time let’s make white bread and the recipe she chose was based on the fact that it looked easy. (It is so important to choose a video which makes the process simple for a first timer). She also liked the décor of the kitchen in the video.

2. Collecting the ingredients (Logical / Sorting & Physical Skills)

We had most of the ingredients at home including the baking tray but we needed to buy the dry yeast. So we decided to get ready and walk to the store together and buy it. The kids were super excited to take out their umbrellas and walk. A little exercise did us all good to build up our appetite for the bread. They were focused and didn’t ask for anything extra to be bought from the supermarket (which they usually do) because they really wanted to come home soon and start baking the bread.

3. Making the Dough (Physical Skills & Patience)

Making the dough is a multi-step process. The recipe involves kneading the dough for a long period to ensure the bread turns out soft and with the perfect texture. My kids enjoyed the kneading process the most. I enjoyed their fine and gross motor skills develop. They also had to wait for 45 mins and 30 mins in between the kneading to allow the dough to rise. We used Alexa (By Google) to set the timer and they waited patiently.

4. Baking, Slicing & Eating (Patience, Accomplishment, Serving Others)

We had to bake the bread for almost 30 minutes. We felt a sense of accomplishment and purpose knowing that we are now capable of baking our own bread. We also had my husband’s cousin living with us for a few days and the kids learnt that they had to serve others first before eating.

All in all it was a wonderful bonding family time, with a scoop full of learning, a pinch of patience, a bunch of hard-work and a tummy full of yummy bread. I enjoyed the process and invite you to try it for yourself. Do post pictures and tag us #toddlersnursery #learn2teach if you do!