Flour Power

I came up with this activity by happenstance while I was baking cookies with my daughter one day and I am so glad that I discovered the joys of Flour Power! My little one was about 20 months old at the time and she loved to help in the kitchen. She really enjoyed pouring the premeasured liquid ingredients into the mixing bowl and combining them. On this particular day, I decided that she could perform a new task. I figured that she could easily fill the flour measuring cup if I gave her a spoon to transfer the flour. I poured some extra flour into a mixing bowl and showed her how to transfer the flour into the cup. She enjoyed it so much that I decided to create this activity and add it to our rotation. Who knew that flour was so entertaining?!

Items needed for this activity:

1-2 Cups of Flour

Small Mixing Bowl

Medium Mixing Bowl

Small Spoon or Measuring Spoon

Small Measuring Cup

How much flour you use in this activity is completely up to you. The less flour, the less mess. I recommend setting up your activity area on the counter near the sink or on an easily washable floor. This activity can be tweaked in so many ways. You can add extra items and make a sensory bin or whatever you think your little one would enjoy. I prefer to keep the activity simple, as it is great for developing fine motor skills. Without the distraction of extra items, your little one can showcase their scooping, transferring, and pouring skills.

I love my kitchen helper for this activity and we use it ALL THE TIME. My daughter prefers to stand for a lot of activities so it was definitely a good investment. There are so many versions out there that it can be overwhelming to choose one. The kitchen helper that we have is collapsible so it is not always in the way and is easily stored. It is extremely easy to clean as well. I highly recommend any Guidecraft kitchen helper, for Flour Power and many other activities!

Steps:

Pour your flour into the medium mixing bowl.

Model how to transfer the flour into the small mixing bowl with both the spoon and the small measuring cup.

Show your little one how to stir the flour. Then, hand the spoon and measuring cup to your child and allow them to concoct their own unique flour power experience!

Allow your toddler to transfer the flour from bowl to bowl on their own. Some flour is likely to end up outside of the bowls. When this happens, encourage your little one to draw in the flour with their fingers. That is a fun activity on its own; in fact, we have done that before using a cookie sheet. If your little one is not yet ready for pouring, try that!

As I said, flour power is a very simple activity. It is a great source of entertainment that is extremely affordable and wonderful for fine motor skill development. It can be as simple or complex as you design it to be. To make this activity more challenging, use smaller spoons and measuring cups. Try using a spatula to transfer the flour. Swap out the mixing bowls for cups. Add a bowl of water into the mix so your little one can see how flour reacts to water. I can guarantee that this activity is worth the mess!