A Bakery Themed Classroom Transformation

I am not the type of teacher who routinely does extravagant room transformations.  I typically like to keep things simple, and I don’t love themed decorations (you can read all about why you should ditch your classroom theme here). Every once in a while, though, a room transformation can be a super fun way to engage your students. This Bakery Themed Classroom Transformation is the perfect place to start if you’ve been wanting to dip your toe in the room transformation waters. Maybe you’ve done a few before, or perhaps this is your first time. In any case, I believe this will be the easiest and cheapest (hallelujah) room transformation you will ever do! 

Transform your physical or virtual classroom

Teaching virtually at the moment? Not a problem! In this post, I will lay out all you need to know about transforming your physical or virtual classroom, and I promise if you are virtual, your students will still get a huge kick out of it. 

In this bakery themed classroom transformation, you will essentially transform your classroom into a “bakery” and have students practice multiplying fractions by doubling a recipe. I did this in my 4th grade class around Valentine’s Day, which is when we were working on the Multiplying Fractions unit. The recipe is for strawberry cupcakes, so you can easily tie in a Valentine’s Day theme if you wish. The great thing is that this transformation (and the accompanying resource) has been adapted to go with or without the Valentine’s Day element. That way, if you want to teach it in April, you can! You could also use this for a fun review at any time of year in 4th or 5th grade.

In-person bakery classroom transformation

If you are teaching in person, you’ll want to purchase two things for the bakery themed classroom transformation: these ” target=”_blank”>red checkered table cloths and these ” target=”_blank”>paper chef hats. Both are from Amazon and together cost about $23. I recommend dragging your teaching partner into doing this with you, so you can split the cost on some of the items!

Before your math block, cover your tables with the checkered table cloths and put a paper chef hat at each seat. If you want to add an extra flair, bring in some cooking utensils from home and place them in a jar at each table. This adds a cute centerpiece that makes the room feel even more like a bakery. I also wore an apron from home to complete the look. 

Social Distance-Friendly

If your desks are socially distanced right now, you can cut the tablecloths into smaller sections to cover each individual desk. Print one copy of the recipe and one copy of the response sheet per student to avoid having to share. The chef hats are disposable, making them covid friendly!

Print Bakery Themed Room Transformation Resource

In addition, you’ll want to get this Multiplying Fractions with Recipe resource and print the recipe and response sheet for your students. You can do this one of two ways– 1) print a few recipes in color, put them in plastic sheet protectors and place a few at each table; or 2) print the recipe and response sheet double-sided and give one to each kid. 

That’s it! Tablecloths + chef hats + recipe + a very enthusiastic teacher donning an apron = a very engaged class. 

Virtual Classroom Transformation

If you are teaching virtually, the setup will obviously look a little different, but it’s still totally doable.

Virtual Background

You’ll want to use a bakery themed virtual background for your Zoom or Google Meet. Search Google Images for a cupcake shop or dream kitchen of your choice, then save the image to your computer. Next, you’ll be able to upload it to Zoom as a custom virtual background.

Chef Hat Filter

Now for the chef hats… The latest version of Zoom comes with filters and ONE OF THEM IS A CHEF HAT. I mean, come on! It’s like this was meant for virtual teaching! For this to work and every kid to get their cute chef hat filter, I would recommend sending out an email to parents ahead of time to make sure they have the latest version of Zoom installed. Then, you can walk students through how to find the filter once you have them all together. 

To get the filter, follow these steps: In a Zoom meeting, go to “Video Settings” by clicking the little arrow next to the video icon. Click “Backgrounds & Filters”. Scroll through the filters until you find the chef hat. Click on it. Close the settings window, and you should see your filter in action! It’s super easy to find, and your students should have no problem following along if you walk them through it in real time.

Digital Bakery Themed Room Transformation Resource

The Multiplying Fractions with Recipe resource includes a digital version that you can use while teaching virtually. Simply upload the Google Slide presentation to your Google Classroom (or other similar online hub) as an assignment and choose the “Make a Copy for Each Student” option. That way, each kid can fill in their own answers on an individual copy and you can assign a grade if desired. 

Now that you’ve got the 411 on how to implement this bakery themed room transformation, it’s time to take action! Here are the links again for the items you’ll need: 

” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Tablecloths

” target=”_blank”>Chef Hats

Multiplying Fractions with Recipe Resource

Virtual Zoom Background

To top this all off, the resource includes a real strawberry cupcake recipe with baking instructions that you can send home with your students and families. This is such an amazing way for students to get real life, hands-on experience with fractions and units of measurement. 

Please leave a comment if you have any questions, and tag me in all of your social media posts if you end up trying this room transformation! I would LOVE to see this in action and cheer you on!!

Xo,

Kelsey