Bread and Yeast
Category: Kiddie Rider - Tricycler - Bicycler
Introduction:
Baking is one of many fun activities you can do with your child. Yes, the kitchen might get a little messy, but baking is a great way to get involved in some hands-on learning. This lesson will teach your child (and maybe even you!) more about perhaps the most important ingredient behind something we eat almost daily-- bread!. Your child will have a chance to learn what yeast is, how yeast helps bread’s fermentation process, and just how it makes bread light and fluffy.
You Will Need / Create:
For bread baking recipes,, you can simply search for “simple bread recipes” and you will find millions of great recipes such as: The Easiest Loaf of Bread You'll Ever Bake by King Arthur Bakery.
Another option is this recipe: How To Make Challah Bread by EMMA CHRISTENSEN. We used this Challah bread recipe to give children the added experience of braiding the dough. Feel free to use whatever recipe works best for you and for your child’s diet and interests.. Just make sure yeast (the science behind the baking experiment!) is an ingredient!
Discussion Point:
As we mentioned, there’s a lot of science behind yeast. Be sure to start with the basics. Ask your child something like “What do you think yeast is?” and “What kind of role do you think yeast plays before bread is baked and while it is baking?
A way to explore the way yeast works is to see what happens without it. You and your child can bake one loaf with yeast and one without yeast. Then take a look at the differences between each loaf. Did one load rise higher? Did one loaf not rise at all? What is the difference in texture between each loaf?
While the dough is rising, you can show this video from Okie Dokie Odie to help them understand what yeast is and what yeast does when it meets sugar and water.
Plus / Discussion Point (for Kiddie Riders):
You don’t have to go too deep about the chemistry part at this stage but point out that it made dough bigger and puffier.
Focus more on:
Learning the vocabulary of ingredients (eggs, flour, salt, sugar, and more)
Learning the language of actions (mixing, pouring, kneading, and more)
Learning taste (salt is salty, sugar is sweet, do you like this taste? why do you not like it? and more)
Learning the texture (flour is powdery, the dough is sticky, raw eggs are slippery, and more)
Plus / Discussion Point (for Tricyclers and Bicyclers):
Get more familiar with scientific factors and terminologies
Below is a graphic called The Chemistry Of the Bread-Making explaining the scientific factors behind baking bread. post. It’s a great graphic to look over with your child. Great post to read together with the child.
Learn where else yeast would works in our life and how it does what it does here at Sciencing.com)
There are at least 1,500 species of yeast and they are commonly used in making alcoholic drinks, non-alcoholic drinks, biofuel, probiotics, and for scientific research.
