Suggestions for teaching an intro bread class for children
Hi everyone. Sorry I've ... er ... been away for a while. I'm still baking breads several times a week, and pizzas, English muffins and other delights as well, but with an East Coast schedule in a West Coast world and a six-year-old to take care of (and cart around, or, at least accompany on my bicycle), I've been a bit cramped for time to post and keep up with TFL -- which has grown quite a bit in my absence, I see. Wow!!
I usually offer a 4-5 hour bread baking class for my church auction. They've been fun, and I just recently finished my latest. Three adults, and they wanted sourdough -- so I taught them the basics of bread baking, from ingredients to technique and even baker's math -- and, of course we baked a lot of tasty things: sourdough pizza, San Francisco-style boules, sourdough English muffins and, of course, a sourdough pizza.
This time around, however, I'm facing a new challenge. The purchasers would like the class to be for their 10-year-old son and, maybe some other children. My own six year old may take part.
Has anyone taught a bread baking class for children? If so, suggestions? I'm thinking a basic sandiwch loaf and, of course pizza, should be on the docket. But I'd love to hear from the community their ideas.
Thanks!
Hi, Jeff.
It's great to see you here again. You've been missed.
My first thought was to ask the 10 year old what kind of bread he likes and go from there. (I'm assuming he has had some exposure to good bread, I guess.)
How about something beyond a basic sandwich loaf that involves some playing with the dough. I'm thinking of a cinnamon raisin swirled bread. Or a braided bread or knotted roll. Or bagels. Even a hearth bread that the kids could score themselves. (A legitimate use of a blade that they're usually forbidden to "play with.")
If sweet stuff isn't off limits and you are up to it, you could make up a batch of danish dough and teach them how to make a variety of shaped pastries. More cutting and folding.
Then there's the notion of making something they eat often, even though it's junk, but it doesn't need to be junk. I'm thinking hamburger buns or hot dog rolls.
Boy! It sounds like fun! Where can I sign up?
David
Hey, that's a great idea! I'd not thought of making cinnamon rolls or braided bread. That sounds like a great idea. Thanks!!
I like all the suggestions upthread, and would mainly suggest thinking like a tv chef. That is, arrive with dough at three stages--unmixed ingredients, rising, and nearly ready to shape and bake. That way, they can get hands-on experience with dough in relatively short order, which is an important point when dealing with 10 year olds, no?
It is fun! I've really enjoyed the classes I've taught, and that's exactly what I've done. I usually bring dough that's already done the bulk rise so we can shape, and we mix some up as well that they can take home and bake. I'll do something similar with this class.
Jmonkey,
Sounds like a fun deal you have going there.
Back in my previous life when I was a teacher of 11-13 year olds, I'd incorporate one cooking project into each quarter of the school year. It was related to science, social studies, history, math, holidays, and life. We made pizza, gingerbread houses, pumpkin pie, baklava, portuguese sweet bread, and all kinds of other stuff. I even did some of the same stuff with high school athletes for the endless fundraising that we had to do.
As GlendaLynn mentioned above, creativity's a big hit. The kids really loved the pizza making because they could put whichever toppings they wanted; some even did the 'cheese filled crust' just like pizza hut. I told them they could try the pizza tossing, but they'd have to eat it even if the dough hit the ground. Some tried anyway after a short demo.
The great thing about stickybuns, is there are very distinct stages of the process-none of which require a lot of skill. Plus, everyone's tastes great even if they don't look too hot.
I used volume measurements since we were working on fractions and that's what they'd see at home anyway.
2" PVC is a cheap rolling pin substitution (if you need them) since a lot of homes don't have rolling pins anymore. Plus, then they learn to roll properly anyway by putting their weight on the rolling part and not the handles.
-Mark
Maybe a tasting session where they can compare unleavened, lean, and enriched breads? Or white vs. whole grain versions of the same bread? Sort of like a vertical tasting with wine :-)
That could turn it into an exercise in developing their palates while they learn new skills.
Hey JMonkey,
Good to see you out and about. How about asking the kids teacher about recent lessons in history. Maybe you could tie into something they were talking about in school. That way the kids have a chance to bring something to the discussion which will help them be interested. After all, bread is just 4 ingredients. I would keep it simple and work around visual and word images of ancient builders of pyramids or even early pioneers that carrier the yeast in a bag under their armpit (sourdough). The pita is a great idea. The graphic blowing up in the oven would catch their interest. My two cents. Sounds like fun to me.
Eric