Cook One Thing
Make something the whole family eats, and be the one in charge of it.
1 week🧭 Life Skills🔢 Math📚 Reading
What you need
- a simple recipe you already make
- measuring cups or spoons
- the ingredients
Nothing to buy and nothing to print — if you do not have one of these, swap it for whatever you do have.
The steps
Day 1
Pick it
Choose something with no more than five ingredients. Read the list together.
📋 Make a list
Day 2
Check the cupboard
Which ingredients do you already have? Which do you need?
📋 Make a list
Day 3
Measure everything first
Before anything is cooked, measure every ingredient into its own cup or bowl.
📷 Take a photo
Say this: “Chefs call this mise en place. It means everything in its place.”
Day 4
Cook it
The child does every step they safely can. The adult does the hot parts and narrates.
📷 Take a photo
Day 5
Write it down
Write or draw the recipe so someone else could make it. Include the amounts.
✍️ Write a few sentences
How to score it
You score this, not us. Pick the description that actually matches what they did.
Measuring
- 1. Watched
- 2. Measured with help
- 3. Measured alone
- 4. Measured alone and spotted a mistake
Following steps
- 1. Needed every step said
- 2. Followed with reminders
- 3. Followed the order alone
- 4. Followed and explained why the order matters
Writing it down
- 1. Drew the food
- 2. Listed the ingredients
- 3. Listed ingredients and amounts
- 4. Wrote steps someone else could follow
With more than one child
Each child owns one dish and they serve the meal together.
What goes in the portfolio
The recipe written or drawn by the child, with the amounts, and a photo of what they made.