Whip up a batch of this easy recipe for flapjacks to teach your little ones important skills like math, science, technology, and engineering!
We have another wonderful learning post today – this time from Gemma at Mummy’s Waisted. Don’t forget to check out the other posts within our 31 Days of Learning series. In this post, Gemma teaches us how this this easy flapjack recipe can help kids learn.
I’ve always enjoyed baking and cooking with my children, now aged 4 and 7. Even from a young age, getting children involved in the kitchen has so many benefits, and not just for the tasty treats you make!
I’ve been testing out some different flapjack recipes with my children, both from a desire to make fairly healthy snacks, but also because there are lots of STEM-related conversations to have.
How Baking Can Teach Children Life Skills
There are so many ways to teach kids important life skills in the kitchen! Here are a few of the STEM skills they’ll learn by baking these sweet treats.
Maths
I’ll start with maths because this is the easiest to practice when baking. Depending on what you’re making, there’s a great deal of precision required and using scales is brilliant for this. You can start off with younger children recognising numbers and then progress on to easy addition for older children. My son particularly loves it when we have too much of an ingredient, and he has to work out how much to take away. You can also work with multiples, such as how much a number of tablespoons makes as a total, and fractions when you cut up the finished product.
Science
There’s lots of practical applications for science in baking. When we made flapjacks, one of the recipes involved melting butter, honey and chopped dates over boiling water, so my son and I talked about which would melt first, and why. We also looked about the consistency and texture of the uncooked ingredients versus the finished flapjacks, and why it had changed during the time in the oven.
Technology
Baking is a great way to safely expose your children to kitchen equipment, and its dangers. Obviously you will need to closely supervise, but having a discussion about your oven, hob or microwave and how they work can set them on a useful path for later life. Safe knife skills as also good to practice.
Engineering
This can be the trickiest subject in the kitchen but there are some ways to incorporate it. You could talk about choosing the right dish or tin for cooking your creations in, or working out how different quantities or thicknesses of flapjack will cook in comparison to each other.
How to Make This Easy Recipe for Flapjacks
Now that you know why this recipe is so helpful, let’s get baking! These are the sticky gooey type of flapjacks and you can add extra dry ingredients, like chocolate chips, to this recipe. This amount makes 10-12 squares, depending on how big you cut them!
Equipment
To make this basic flapjack recipe, you’ll need a bowl or food processor and a square baking tin.
Ingredients
- Porridge oats – The jumbo oats work especially well.
- Melted butter or margarine – This will make your oat bars taste heavenly!
- Sugar – Muscavado gives a great taste.
- Lyle’s golden syrup – This syrup will help holds the ingredients together. They’re also great with maple syrup or agave syrup.
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients in a bowl or pulse in a food mixer.
- Line your 20cm x 20cm square tin with parchment paper
- Pour your oat mixture into the prepared tin and press down well with your hands or the back of a spoon.
- Bake at 200C/180C fan/gas 6 for 15 minutes
- Leave to cool in the tin on a wire rack.
- Cut into bars and enjoy.
Storage
Store your cut flapjacks in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days. If they start to get stale, break them up into chunks and toast them in the oven to become granola.
How to Serve
These traditional flapjacks are a lovely treat on their own! Enjoy them like a granola bar for a quick burst of energy. They’re also delicious with some yogurt or fresh fruits for breakfast or at afternoon tea.
Basic Flapjacks
A delicious flapjacks recipe that's simple to make with kids in the kitchen. The perfect gooey treat to enjoy as a family when you're craving some basic flapjacks.
Ingredients
- 200g porridge oats (the jumbo size work especially well)
- 100g butter or margarine
- 100g sugar (muscavado gives a great taste)
- 2 tbsps golden syrup
Instructions
- Mix of all the ingredients well in a bowl or pulse in a food mixer.
- Line your 20cm x 20cm baking tin with baking paper
- Pour your batter into the baking tine and press down well.
- Bake at 200C/180C fan/gas 6 for 15 minutes
- Leave to cool in the tin.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
10Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving:Calories: 139Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 76mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 0gSugar: 12gProtein: 1g
What’s the difference between American and English flapjacks?
To our American readers, this classic flapjack recipe might seem quite confusing. Unlike the American flapjack which is essentially a pancake, English flapjacks are more like a granola bar!
They really couldn’t be much more different.
Tips for Baking Flapjacks with Kids
Your little ones can help with every step of this flapjacks recipe.
- Have them line the tin with baking paper.
- Invite them to scoop out all the dry ingredients, the quick cooking oats and demerara sugar, using measuring cups.
- Help them gently melt the butter on the stove or in the microwave.
- Show them how to measure the syrup mixture to get just the right amount.
- Give them a wooden spoon or rubber spatula so they can combine the flapjack mixture in a bowl.
- Wet their hands and use them to press down the oat mixture without sticking.
The next time you get a chance, break out the oats and make this traditional flapjack recipe for a sweet treat and a learning opportunity!
We are sure you will love both the recipes and the fun to be had within the kitchen from these wonderful recipes, and STEM ideas. Do pop along to Gemma’s blog, Mummy’s Waisted, to check out some of the other articles and ideas she has too.
We’ve got lots of other great ideas for STEM activities on the site, so do check them out.
Science related activities and printables
Here are some more science activities to get stuck in to today.
Frog life cycle printables: Get to know your tadpoles!
So what is the frog and tadpole life cycle all about - we've got activity sheets to help learn about it all.
Ladybug Life cycle: Free printables for writing, math and fun!
The ladybird lifecycle is just as interesting as the flog - why not take a look here?
Human body matching game - Free printable
We have a human body matching game to help kids to learn all about their bodies.
Build your own robot free STEM printable
Fancy building a robot? We have a printable to help!
Animal habitats sorting game for kids: Free printable
This is our most popular printable activity - take a look and have some fun with us today.
Thanks for coming to see us today – do sign up if you like what you see.
See you again soon!
Helen
Helen Neale
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, website editor and a qualified counsellor with experience of working with both children and adults.She is a registered member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapists, with her own private practise. She also freelances with her local Mind organisation.Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, use those grey cells at the same time, and supplement her counselling income.KiddyCharts has reach of over 680k across socials and the site. The site works with big family brands to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10. She is a specialist counsellor for neurodivergent individuals and brings this expertise to her resources and the site. She is also an ADHDer herself.KiddyCharts gives 51%+ profits to charities, focused on supporting mental health and a community in TanzaniaHelen has also worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on.Get in touch TODAY!