Maker Monday: Baking a cake with kids is a sweet way to teach math and more

This week’s fun and easy “Let’s Try” Maker Monday project, courtesy of our friends at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, teaches your child to make a cake from scratch and decorate it. This especially delicious maker activity is great for a cold day when kids are home from school.

A note to kid makers (and bakers): Please work with a parent or caregiver on every project and always be very careful when using tools of any kind.

Maker Monday materials you’ll need:

• 1.5 cups flour
• 4 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 5 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp. white vinegar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup cold water
• 9-inch cake pan
• an oven

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a big bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together (flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, salt).
• Add wet ingredients (oil, water, vinegar, vanilla).
• Mix until batter is smooth.
• Use a bit more oil (or use butter, or cooking spray) to grease the 9-inch pan.
• Pour batter into the pan and use a spatula to smooth it out.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean).
• Now it’s time to decorate! One option: Use powdered sugar and sprinkles. Check out the video for a simple way to make a powdered sugar heart on your cake using paper, a pencil or pen, and a sifter.