Does your child know how to crack an egg?
The summer break while school’s out gives us some extra time to work on life skills and one thing we’re enjoying is having the children get more involved in preparing our meals. And as you really can’t make an omelette without cracking a few eggs, today’s home school/home economics lesson was in how to crack an egg.
The kids found it quite a thrill to get their hands on real eggs, with all that potential mess inside. There’s an art to cracking an egg and not ending up with it all over the floor or with a bowl full of shell. With a few instructions and some hands on practise it’s a skill very young children can master. It’s great for building their confidence and developing their fine motor skills. They’re learning how to follow instructions, work step-by-step, practise restraint and take a risk.
How to crack an egg: child-friendly tips
A gentle tap to make a small crack.
Push your thumbs into the hole.
Hold your egg low down over your dish.
Use your thumbs to pull the egg apart.
And…ta-da!
Not a piece of shell in sight and proud smiles all round. (And if there are any stray pieces of shell you’ll find them much easier to scoop out with another piece of shell than with a spoon – like attracting like.)
Once you’ve mastered the art of how to crack an egg you could make some pretty mini meringues or a fruity tea loaf or even bake a cake.
happily shared with works for me wednesday and made by you monday and sunday showcase and running with glitter
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Hello Cathy! I love the practicality of this post. In all of our play, I think that we sometimes forget to integrate life skills…and that they can be fun too! Love the changes to your blog, it looks wonderful.
Kristi
It’s so easy to worry about messes… and so NOT worth it! I love your tips for taking the mystery out of the process.
I love this. I think my kids would be willing to do this one day for some scrambled eggs as a reward
i’m so glad you posted this! i taught my girls how to crack an egg at a very young age…and it worked. they are all grown up now and their friends are amazed they can crack an egg so well! funny how simple things like this are so rewarding :] thanks for sharing!
Hi Miss Lisa, I think that’s a really good point – things we see as so simple are a big deal for little ones.
LOVE the tips! Something Henry’s been wanting to do and I always shy away from it… its just an egg!
Exactly Jamie – it is just an egg. We let them loose with paint and glitter – why not eggs?
I love your perspective. My boys ask a lot if they can help in the kitchen… but I do not want the mess. It is just an egg.
Hi Crystal & Co. There are certainly times when I say no too (when we’re running late and need to eat in a hurry) but the summer gives us extra time so they can join in.
This is great! My kids have grown up in the kitchen before my eyes and I won’t ever forget their first egg crackings! The tip to push your thumbs into the egg would have been great for me to express! (We ended up with a bit of a mess but had a great time!)
I had to see what this is all about, kids should know how to crack an egg- my son is still to young. Acouple of weeks ago he threw an egg on the floor and said mommy broke. I guess I could say he knows how to break them!
Hi, A perfectly simple and practical post……these are the exact same instructions I use with my kiddos on the kitchen especially during our egg unit study
http://umamahlearningacademy.blogspot.com/search/label/Unit%20Studies
Hope you enjoy it ! I would love to hear from you……
Hmmmm…. I had my kids crack eggs before and although they did not get shells into the bowl- they had a hard time getting the egg into the bowl as well. It is a great lesson to learn & fantastic for fine motor skills! Thank you for stopping by and linking up to The Sunday Showcase
Cathy,
We were very much inspired by your post. Last week I let my daughter peel the egg shells from boiled eggs.
http://creativitymypassion.blogspot.com/2011/08/cooking-with-kids-peeling-eggs-and-egg.html
Esther
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Great post! My son is 6.5 and finds this really hard as he has mild cerebral palsy which gives him minimal use of his right arm/hand. You’ve inspired me to sit down with him and a box of eggs, and let him find his own way of doing this!
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My 2 year old loves to cook with me. The other day while we were cooking, he grabbed an egg and wanted to crack it. I went ahead and let him…why not? I was shocked that he got all the egg in the bowl without any shell falling in. I let him do the second egg, and he did great with that one too! Shocked…just shocked! Guess he’s seen me do it enough that he knew what to do. My guess, is that it won’t always go so well!
It was grandma that first taught my son to crack an egg. It’s not that I was afraid of the mess, it just never occurred to me to have him do it. He and my daughter both love to help in the kitchen and at 6 he is now making scrambled eggs and french toast with just supervision!
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