Creative Baking Fun

Lesson Overview

• Subject: Art and Design
• Year Group: Year 1
• Time Duration: 20 minutes
• Class Size: 6 students
• Curriculum Focus: National Curriculum for England – Art and Design (Key Stage 1)
• Key Skills: Creativity, Fine Motor Skills, Exploration of Textures and Colours
• Cross-curricular Links: Mathematics (measuring ingredients), Science (changes in materials), PSHE (teamwork and sharing)

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, students will:

1. Explore creativity through decorating baked goods.
2. Develop fine motor skills by applying icing and toppings.
3. Understand colour mixing by experimenting with icing colours.
4. Learn about textures through different ingredients and decorations.

Resources Needed

• Pre-baked biscuits (simple round or shaped)
• Coloured icing (pre-mixed in small containers)
• Small bowls of decorations (sprinkles, edible glitter, chocolate chips, small fruit pieces)
• Child-safe plastic knives or wooden lollipop sticks for spreading icing
• Aprons
• Plastic table covers or trays for easy clean-up
• A small visual chart of different textures and colours

Lesson Breakdown

1. Introduction (2 minutes) – "What Can We Create?"

• Gather students in a semi-circle and show a plain biscuit.
• Ask: "How can we make this more colourful and exciting?"
• Show a few decorated examples but emphasise that theirs should be unique.
• Briefly discuss textures (smooth icing vs. rough sprinkles) and colours (mixing icing to create different shades).

2. Demonstration (3 minutes) – "How to Decorate"

• Model the decorating process:
  • Spread icing smoothly with a plastic knife.
  • Add sprinkles, fruit, or chocolate chips.
  • Use fingertips to carefully place small decorations.
• Encourage students to try mixing two colours of icing to create a new shade.
• Show how different textures feel by letting them touch icing and sprinkles.

3. Hands-on Activity (10 minutes) – "Design Your Biscuit!"

• Each child selects a plain biscuit.
• They spread icing in their chosen colour.
• They decorate with sprinkles, chocolate chips, and edible glitter.
• Encourage them to name their creation – "Is it a rainbow biscuit? A snowstorm biscuit?"

4. Reflection and Sharing (3 minutes) – "Show and Tell"

• Each child shares their decorated biscuit with the group.
• Ask each student to describe their design and what they liked about the activity.
• Reinforce key learning: "What new colours did you make?" "What textures did you use?"

Assessment Opportunities

• Observe how students handle tools (fine motor skills).
• Listen to their explanations of their biscuit designs to gauge creativity and understanding of textures/colours.
• Check if they successfully mix icing colours.

Differentiation

• For those needing support: Offer fewer choices to avoid overwhelming them; provide pre-mixed icing colours.
• For those needing challenge: Encourage layering decorations or combining colours in patterns.

Wrap-Up

• Quick tidy-up and hand-washing.
• Reinforce how they used art and design thinking to make something edible and creative.
• Optionally, take a photo of their biscuits before they eat them to celebrate their creations!

Extension Idea

For next time, explore pattern-making by designing biscuits with repeated shapes and colours.