10+ Reasons Why Baking Is One Of The BEST Homeschooling Activities

One of the best parts of homeschooling? The flexibility to make learning hands-on, messy, and so much fun! ….OH, and let’s not forget: DELICIOUS! As a former teacher turned homeschooling mom, I’ve discovered that baking is one of the easiest ways to sneak in valuable lessons—without kids even realizing they’re learning! Math, reading, responsibility, and decision-making all come naturally when whipping up something delicious in the kitchen.

If baking isn’t part of your homeschool routine yet, now is the perfect time to start! Here are some simple, practical ways to turn kitchen time into meaningful learning moments.

💡 Quick heads-up! Some links in this post are affiliate links. I only share products I truly recommend, and I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them. Thanks for your support!

1. Making a Shopping List

Before the flour starts flying, get your kids involved in writing out a shopping list. This builds planning skills, spelling, and organization. Younger kids can sound out words, while older kids can categorize items by store sections—just like the pros!

A few years ago, my daughter wanted to make an apple pie. Because we don’t typically have apple pie ingredients readily on hand, it was the perfect opportunity to teach my daughter how to make a shopping list. I printed out the recipe she was going to be using and had her check to see what ingredients we had in our pantry, fridge, and spice collection. She highlighted the items we would need to buy. Then she decided to write out each of these items to make her own shopping list. After that, we headed to the store with the list in hand!

💡 Quick Tip: My daughter was 7 at the time, so she felt pretty confident using her list to help guide her through the store. If you have younger kiddos, give your child their own mini-list of must-find items to keep them engaged and feeling independent.

2. Comparing Prices at the Store & Working with Money

Turn your grocery run into a real-world math lesson! Have your child compare prices, calculate which option is the best deal, and even round numbers to estimate totals.

We like to round the prices up to the nearest dollar and keep a rough running total as we go through the store. This is such a great way to teach children to keep an estimate of what they will be spending as they are spending it. I think it also helps keep things in perspective some too!

💡 Quick Tip: Give your child a set amount of money to spend on baking ingredients and let them practice budgeting in action. You can even have them keep track of the money on the back of their list. Sometimes I find that having kids cross out the amount of money “spent” can be super helpful! Especially as they may be trying to keep track of multiple things in their mind as you go through the store.

3. Comparing Value or Quantity of Items While Shopping

Is the big bag of chocolate chips actually a better deal than the smaller one? Let your child check labels, weigh options, and decide whether buying in bulk makes sense.

💡 Quick Tip: I LOVE the price labels that compare the price per unit. These are SO helpful for the kids to compare prices and value!

🔗 Helpful Resource: Digital Kitchen Scale for weighing ingredients at home.

4. Fraction Practice

Fractions make way more sense when you can see and taste them! Have your child measure out ingredients and see how different fractions make up a whole.

💡 Quick Tip: Challenge your child to double or halve a recipe—talk about a real-life math challenge!

🔗 Helpful Resource: Check out these amazing Fraction Measuring Cups! These are such a great visual for kiddos!

5. Practice with Units of Measurement

Teaspoons, tablespoons, cups—oh my! Cooking naturally reinforces measurement skills and helps kids see the importance of precision.

💡 Quick Tip: Ask your child to predict how many teaspoons fit into a tablespoon, then let them test their guess!

🔗 Helpful Resource: We love having a handy conversion magnet in our kitchen to help with converting measurements.

Another great thing to have on hand is a small kitchen scale. This has been SO handy for us!

6. Reading Practice

Recipes are the perfect reading comprehension activity! They introduce new vocabulary words like “sift,” “whisk,” and “knead,” while also helping kids follow step-by-step directions.

I love that recipes are written in a simplified, step-by-step format rather than long paragraphs! This makes it easy for kids to follow along, track where they are, and process small sections of text at a time.

💡 Quick Tip: Print out simple recipes with pictures for early readers to boost confidence.

🔗 Helpful Resource: This is a great Kids’ Baking Cookbook with fun and easy-to-follow recipes.

7. Sequencing

What happens if you forget the baking powder? Or mix everything in the wrong order? Baking helps kids see why following steps in the correct sequence really matters. I also like to talk about which steps are okay to do out of order too!

💡 Quick Tip: Before baking, have your child put the recipe steps in order as a fun pre-activity. We like to take out the ingredients and group them together by each step. It helps my children know we have all that we need and what ingredient goes with which step of the process. This also gives us some extra practice reading the recipe a few times through!

8. Planning Ahead & Preparing

Baking requires planning—ingredients need to be gathered, dough needs time to rise, and ovens need to preheat. This helps kids learn time management and preparation skills.

Of course, when the mood for fresh homemade baked goods strikes, it’s temping to grab a recipe and want to bake it RIGHT then. A little planning can go a LONG way! One of the things we like to do is prep ourselves a few days ahead of time so that we know exactly what to expect. That is especially helpful if a trip to the store is involved!! Or if pie crust dough needs to rest. Or if butter needs to be softened…… which by the way – you can use a cheese grater to grate a stick of refrigerated butter in place of “softened butter” if you forgot to set out butter the night before! Ask me how I know! Hahahahah!

💡 Quick Tip: Ask your child to estimate how long each step will take and compare their guess to reality.

9. Making Decisions

Baking is full of choices—what recipe to make, which ingredients to use, and how to decorate the final product. Give your child the chance to make decisions and see the results. Sometimes decisions can be as simple as making some muffins WITH nuts and some without, or which muffin liners to use and why! This is also a great opportunity for your child to practice their reasoning skills!

💡 Quick Tip: Let your child take charge by picking the recipe and making a simple game plan. Ask them questions like, “Do we have all the ingredients?” or “How much time will this take?” to build confidence in decision-making. Even having them delegate out tasks or steps can be a helpful way for their to build ownership and confidence (and get some extra practice reading the recipe too!).

10. Cleaning Up

No one loves cleaning, but it’s a big part of responsibility! Teach your child the importance of cleaning as they go to keep the kitchen (somewhat) mess-free.

💡 Quick Tip: Turn cleanup into a game! Set a timer and challenge your child to beat the clock while wiping counters or washing dishes. The best part? You can usually get the kitchen cleaned up while your goodies are baking—meaning you get to enjoy them without a mess waiting for you!

🔗 Helpful Resource: I LOVE my silicone baking trays – and I especially LOVE that they can go in the dishwasher!

11. Writing Out Recipes to Create a Keepsake Recipe Book

Encourage your child to write down their favorite recipes in their own words. Not only does this help with handwriting, but it also creates a special keepsake or thoughtful gift for family members!

I LOVE the idea of having my children write out their favorite recipes and then putting these recipes along with some pictures together into a photo book through sites like Shutterfly or Costco!

💡 Quick Tip: If you have younger kids, have your child create and illustrate a recipe book with step-by-step drawings or fun doodles.

🔗 Helpful Resource: These recipe card pages are PERFECT for kids to write out their recipes. They are so nice and organized, simple, and they make it easy to add recipes to a binder!

What will you bake?!

Baking isn’t just about making yummy treats—it’s a powerhouse learning tool that builds real-life skills in the most fun (and delicious) way possible! Whether your child is practicing math, reading, or even decision-making, time in the kitchen is time well spent.

So, grab those mixing bowls, put on your aprons, and start baking some memories together! What’s your child’s favorite thing to bake? Let me know in the comments! 🍪🎂🥖