The kitchen is the place to practice math. It makes math very relevant and fun for kids of all ages. They might not even know they are learning math but they sure want to make a double batch of chocolate chip cookies!Here are a few exploration ideas that work for younger ages:

• How do you double a cookie recipe?
• If this recipe for soup serves 4 people, how do we make enough for 8 people? Or 2?
• How many place settings do we need? Or if we give everyone 2 forks, one for salad and one for the entree, how many forks do we need?

And here are a few exploration ideas for older students:

• What temperature does water boil? and freeze?
• How does altitude affect the temperature that water boils?
• What is the circumference of a cake so you can wrap a ribbon around it? How many inches of ribbon would you need for a cake that is 10 inches in diameter?
• How do you convert liquid measurements to pounds and ounces?
• What ratio does this grain recipe use by volume: 1 cup of oats, 2 cups of water? Now convert to weight and what is that ratio?
• What is the weight of a half cup of water compared to a half cup of flour? Why are they different?
• Explain the measurements of teaspoons, tablespoons, cups, ounces, and pounds.

My journey as a mom teaching math in the kitchen began with this Warthogs in the Kitchen Book.It is funny and silly book and a great way to introduce kids to math. And it can be a theme in your kitchen, too.