How to teach kids math in the kitchen

Cooking is math a child can taste: measuring, splitting into pieces, making more or less of a recipe. The lessons below turn those ordinary moments into questions.

What the Batch unit “Kitchen Math” covers

Math you can taste. It is unit 1 of the Everyday Math track and has 5 lessons and 58 cards:

1. Measure It Right
2. Fractions Are Pieces
3. Double the Recipe
4. Money at the Store
5. Boss Level: Kitchen Math

What the first lesson says

This is the actual text from lesson 1, “Measure It Right”, word for word:

Cooking is full of math! Job one is measuring. We use cups and spoons to get the amounts just right.

A teaspoon is small. A tablespoon is bigger. It takes 3 teaspoons to fill 1 tablespoon.

A question from that lesson to try together

Try it at home

Next time you cook, hand your child the measuring spoons and cups and let them do the measuring while you read out the recipe.

Play the lesson

Open Batch in the browser, choose Everyday Math, then Kitchen Math, and start with “Measure It Right”. Whether an account is needed is answered in the FAQ.

Printables for the fridge

Two free PDFs for the Everyday Math track. The checklist lists the lessons from 2 of the track's 2 units.

• What we learned (PDF)
• Fridge checklist (PDF)

More guides: all Batch guides.