Why Bakery works

Use Bakery as a practical way to explore role, sequence, and believable pretend cause-and-effect. Run a pretend bakery from order to mixing, shaping and packaging without using ovens, heat or real baking tools. Keep the first round centered on the move from having the child take one customer order to having them pretend to measure and mix the ingredients.

Set up — Take one customer order

Prepare household items before the child is asked to take one customer order. If the child is unsure how to take one customer order, simplify the setup before introducing the request to pretend to measure and mix the ingredients. Keep props ordinary and safe, and do not copy real hazardous, medical, or emergency procedures during both of those opening steps.

Step 2 — Pretend to measure and mix the ingredients

Use the result of asking the child to pretend to measure and mix the ingredients as a clue for the next decision. Do not move on to shape or assemble the pretend baked item until this step has a clear purpose.

Step 3 — Shape or assemble the pretend baked item

Ask the child to shape or assemble the pretend baked item. Compare what happens with the earlier step to pretend to measure and mix the ingredients, then continue by asking them to place it in an imaginary oven and skip directly to the ‘finished’ result once the difference is clear.

Step 4 — Place it in an imaginary oven and skip directly to the ‘finished’…

Let the child place it in an imaginary oven and skip directly to the ‘finished’ result and treat the result as information rather than simple repetition. If it is unclear, repeat that action before asking them to package and hand the order to the customer.

Step 5 — Package and hand the order to the customer

One careful attempt to package and hand the order to the customer is enough at this stage. Before the child tries to package and hand the order to the customer, ask them to show or describe what differed from when they had to place it in an imaginary oven and skip directly to the ‘finished’ result.

What to notice before Package and hand the order to the customer

The activity is working when the child uses what happened while trying to shape or assemble the pretend baked item to make sense of the request to place it in an imaginary oven and skip directly to the ‘finished’ result. That is where whether the next pretend action follows from what the characters just did becomes visible.

Make Shape or assemble the pretend baked item easier or harder

An easier round can stop after the child has tried to pretend to measure and mix the ingredients; in that version, use one role, one place, and one short problem. For more challenge, add a second responsibility, clue, customer, or consequence that must be handled in order while keeping the path to package and hand the order to the customer recognizable.

Finish after Package and hand the order to the customer

Package and hand the order to the customer. End with that completed action and save the next variation for another round. Find the next activity in the activity search, or make a new one with the activity generator.