Let ‘Em Make Cake!

All ages

Making cakes is an enjoyable way to help children of all ages learn about chemical reactions and change.

What You Need

• 3 small bowls
• Several sheets of aluminum foil
• Pie pan
• Cooking oil
• Measuring spoons
• Ingredients for one cake: (You’ll need to measure and mix this set of ingredients four times—with the exceptions that are given below.)
  • 6 tablespoons flour
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 2 or 3 pinches of baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 2 tablespoons cooking oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
  • Part of an egg (Break egg into a cup; beat until mixed. Use 1/3 of it.
    Save the rest for 2 of the other cakes.) < !!! >

What to Do

• With your child do the following:

  • Wrap several sheets of aluminum foil around the outside of a small bowl to form a mold.
  • Remove your foil “pan” and put it in a pie pan for support.
  • Oil the “inside” of the foil pan with cooking oil so the cake doesn’t stick.
  • Turn the oven on to 350 degrees. < !!! >
  • Mix all of the dry ingredients together.
  • Add the wet ones (only use 1/3 of the egg; save the rest for later use).
  • Stir the ingredients until smooth and all the same color.
  • Pour batter into the “pan.”
  • Bake for 15 minutes.

• Help your child to make three more cakes, but tell him to do the following:

  • Leave the oil out of one.
  • Leave the egg out of another.
  • Leave the baking powder out of the third.

• After baking, have him cut each cake in half and look inside.

  • Do the cakes look different from each other?
  • Do they taste different from each other?

• Tell your child to write about, or draw pictures of, what he observes.

By Barbara J. Feldman

Barbara J. Feldman is a syndicated columnist and the publisher of Surf Net Parents, Surfnetkids.com and 51+ other family-friendly sites. She has been creating websites since 1996, and loves teaching others how to solve WordPress problems.