Bringing children into the kitchen is a magical way to combine process art with self-expression and introduce mathematical thinking.  When cooking activities are well organized, children will enjoy directing their own learning.  Allow plenty of time for wonder and excitement.  Helping children learn the process of cooking through meaningful conversation helps them learn more about their experiences.  Because cooking requires periods of one child doing a task while others watch, keeping the conversation going helps to alleviate the frustration when waiting and taking turns.  With a little preparation and thoughtfulness, children will be involved in the full experience of culinary art.  By working together, children can make delicious meals that not only nourish others but also create excitement about their role in the process. 

Cooking is a great opportunity to use a variety of mathematical vocabulary.  Words like more, less, add, subtract, and the concept of time are all prevalent in the kitchen.  Creating recipes requires print recognition, counting, measuring, estimating, learning patience, and developing language skills.  Doubling recipes involves multiplication, measuring requires fractions, and eating cookies is subtraction at work.  Younger children can pour ingredients in the bowl, help stir, rinse dishes, or scrub vegetables.  Older children can calculate, measure, crack eggs, or monitor the timer.  What can be more fun for everyone than counting out the chocolate chips?  Games can be created by having children estimate to see who comes up with the correct answer.  Building mathematical skills through cooking not only gives children confidence in their developing math skills but it also encourages them to work with others in a creative process.

One young chef in my program has been cooking at home since he was able to stand on a stool at his mom’s kitchen counter.  It was difficult for him to hide his enthusiasm as he shared his mashing and mixing skills with his friends.  He was able to recall memories of his family cooking experiences just through our activity at school.  Other children are just being introduced to the variety of ways math is used in the kitchen.  The excitement builds as children’s interest increases, new concepts are learned, and experiences are shared.  Cooking together can be a meaningful way to strengthen relationships, learn mathematical vocabulary, and understand the value of math in creative activities. Children learn how math is necessary in the kitchen while experiencing the exciting outcome of edible art.

As we scaffold children’s experiences from their prior knowledge, we learn what they can do and then find appropriate kitchen tasks to challenge them.  As educators, we never know how a child’s learning experience will inspire and impact their lives in later years.  Perhaps we are making cookies today with the future executive chefs of tomorrow.

For children to feel connected to their own learning experiences, artistic activities should be open-ended with a variety of questioning opportunities. Observation and guidance in nondirective ways help children feel supported yet independent.  Asking questions such as, “what else could you add?” and “what could we do if we take these away?” allow for children to problem solve and support one another.  Vygotsky (1933) called this observation and questioning technique the scaffolding process.  This supportive process enables children to take their knowledge deeper. By encouraging children with open-ended questions, they will play an important role in designing their own experiences.  This process allows for purposeful, independent play which increases knowledge along with encouraging the joy of learning.

When I am looking for connections that can be found between math, art, and sand, I think about how children tend to resolve problems.  Children will try challenges that are puzzling enough to be fascinating yet not completely beyond their abilities to resolve.  I invite children to think about the natural relationships between math and art while they are engaged in activities.  The range of children’s questions are impressive when they are involved in this style of play. I hear them ask questions such as “how tall should we make the castle?”  Children will often consult other children about design ideas and materials to use.  They will ask each other to help find pretty rocks or decide how many items to add.  It’s the beauty of math in collaboration, investigation, and social skills all naturally occurring from the basis of play.

Color blending is a fun, hands-on activity that encourages understanding about early math concepts.  Creating an artistic, open-ended curriculum is an exciting way to explore math as descriptive language and problem-solving skills are formed.

We can help children build important connections through shape, line, and color and they begin to see form and portion as a distinct part of a larger picture.  By discussing how to add more paint or less water, children learn to measure and estimate.  They are beginning to identify with a world filled with many shades and hues. By focusing on art, we can easily shift the focus to math and the variety of ways it is used in our everyday experiences.  Using numbers in collage, painting shapes, and drawing objects can help children use art as a basis for understanding math. The basic skills of vocabulary, description, sorting, matching, observing, and experimenting are inherent to color blending.  Children will discover cause and effect, figure out solutions, and understand how things work in relation to their environment.  These are all essential blocks in building an important foundation in math as well as necessary to each child’s educational journey.

The more we involve children’s senses in any artistic process, the more memorable the experience will be for them.  Mixing paint with glitter or essential oils can become a celebration for the senses.  With a little imagination, the simple act of painting becomes a colorful journey as primary colors transform into secondary colors right before a child’s eyes.  Red and blue mix together and then, magically, purple arrives.  Children will observe how every color began its journey as one of the three primary colors. This fact alone is fascinating as children will watch with wonder as this magical process evolves.  Artistic experiences can evolve by adding a variety of art tools and textures.  Children can paint with feathers, balls, or leaves and use the sidewalk or wood as a canvas.  Sometimes the color of mud is made and then the marvel of mud pies could be investigated.  Each new discovery can evolve into a higher level of learning. 

Since the love of all things new comes naturally to children, finding ways to incorporate their ideas will take their curiosity even further.  Creating is effortless when children feel confident to express themselves.  They will acquire new ideas through their creativity and learning becomes natural rather than a forced process through teacher-initiated activities.  This inclusion helps to create a learning environment that is both meaningful and enjoyable.  Children find comfort when their ideas are considered.  By giving them a role in their learning experience, it will heighten their curiosity as well as their confidence.

As we investigate color and math with children, they begin to make connections to the importance it plays.  Color is one of the first things children use to make distinctions between what they observe and how to describe it to others using their newly developing language.  They find immense gratification in pointing out a red leaf by explaining its difference from the green one.  Through this process, understanding how color can describe something is both enjoyable and useful for them.  Color can excite, shift a mood, inspire, or remind us of a special memory. Children are delighted to discover the magic of color, it’s importance, and how it changes often by way of their imaginations.  By recognizing color, expressing observations, and understanding shape, line, and proportion; children are discovering how to use color to mathematically organize their world.  Connections are discovered, and treasured memories are made.

Children have an innate sense of joy; to dream, learn, and seek wonder in everything.  They have bright enthusiasm and endless curiosity.  Just a brief conversation with a three-year-old will give you a sense of how beautiful they find the world.  I strive to capture that magic when designing a math environment to meet a child’s curious nature.  When building learning experiences, I also refer to the philosophies of Reggio Emilia and Waldorf.  These perspectives recognize the child as capable and already having knowledge necessary for learning new things.  Inspiration, creativity, and natural learning spaces are great additions to mathematical learning. Because the outdoors is filled with natural light and fresh air, these spaces can be essential for learning something new.  Nature is full of fascinating objects that have multiple uses in a variety of activities.  Children are inspired and more imaginative when they are surrounded by the calming effects of nature.

Playful learning is the key.  Children will easily build upon learning disguised as play.  An enjoyable, emergent curriculum is one that is delightful and inquiry-focused.  Asking children for their input will fuel their interest.  They will naturally feel included as they recognize their own ideas in math activities.  This ownership can make math visible in a way that children value and understand. 

Mathematics can sometimes be a challenging subject for adults which can create conflicting feelings about teaching it to children.  Introducing it with art can be a relaxing way to bring new concepts to children and bring joy to teaching math. This creative duo is a wonderful way to encourage young children to form positive feelings about mathematics from the beginning of their educational journey.

During one of our learning adventures, we talked about all of the geometric shapes we can find in string art painting. Children will naturally become aware of spatial relationships as they manipulate shapes in their daily play.  As they begin to recognize geometric shapes, they will advance to understanding how individual shapes make up part of a whole object.  When offering these blended art experiences, I ask open-ended questions and let children’s answers direct the flow of learning.  Spend time listening to children’s conversations and you will find surprise and inspiration.  When I see inspiration, I realize other children are “seeing” it too.  This is the activation of wisdom and it catches on like wildfire.  I have found these playful sparks occur most often when children have plenty of time to explore and form thoughtful conclusions about their discoveries. 

Every child has unique gifts to share and teaching math with art gives children multiple ways to shine.  Art is distinctly creative while at the same time allows for diversity.  Presenting colorful math materials to children that are beautiful and inviting provokes thinking and wonder.  Taking supplies outside brings together creativity, learning, and the beauty of a natural environment.  With the warm sun and sweet breeze, children can be heard laughing, singing, and encouraging friends to “look at this!” It’s pure magic to see their artwork or what mathematical conclusions they have found.