Get baking with your children

Apr 15 2008

BAKING with the kids might be messy - but it can also be great fun and have huge social and practical benefits.

Yet a new report shows that a fifth of British adults rarely do any form of family activities with their children, including baking.

The Self Raising Families survey, which is part of the Betty Crocker Baking and Bonding campaign, found that nearly half the adults questioned believed cooking was the ideal activity to engage with their children.

It concluded that as well as creating childhood memories, baking with parents can boost a child's self-esteem and create a stronger bond between parent and child.

In addition, baking is a social learning tool, teaching a child that any activity is only finished when everything has been cleaned and put away. They also learn practical skills such as weighing and measuring, and possibly learning where ingredients come from.

To encourage more parents to get baking with their kids, Betty Crocker suggests letting children go to town with decorations, making a big fuss over the results (no matter how wonky), serving the baking to friends and relatives and getting the whole family involved.