Life Lessons Learned from Watching Kids on Netflix’s Junior Bake Off.
The Kid Version of Great British Baking Show Is Really Eye Opening.
I started watching this just for fun, I do like me some baking shows and the British ones are always relaxing because it’s green countryside, non-drama filled and tons of British accents, all of which make me happy.
I usually don’t watch kid-based ones but sometimes it’s fun, this one, while fun also gave me some interesting insights into the GenZ folks.
For one, all of these kids are ridiculously good bakers, the youngest, Naima, starts the season being 8 years old and she’s already making near flawless choux pastries, macarons, and cakes! She makes it all the way to the final, which is nuts! She’s also the most forthright, but more on that later. As Liam, one of the judges said, when he was her age he barely knew how to boil water. The rest of the kids range in age all the way up to 13 or so.
The host, Harry, is my least favorite part of the show, he tries too hard to be funny, although that could be the fault of the writers too. I feel like they’re not sure if they should be aiming their writing at adults or kids, and I understand their confusion because these kids, and, one would assume, the kids who would be tuning into this show are very mature for their age, as I think a lot of GenZ kids are.
Back to the lessons though, a few things you notice quickly, none of these kids ever really crumble under the pressure. They do a terrific job of staying focused on their task and trust me, they are not simplifying the recipes in the technicals for these kids and the kids are in no way not attempting to put out professional-level work.
As a matter of fact, on several occasions, the judges are comparing the quality of their work to shops and restaurants they go to and say the kids’ work is better. Sure, for the most part, the decorations aren’t the best as these kids haven’t had the time to perfect piping and such, or simply lack the coordination skills at their age, but there are several breathtaking creations and they seem to always hit their flavor combinations.
Lesson 1: The kids, even when things start going wrong take deep breaths, refocus and forge ahead. Not once do any of them get so emotional that they quit or break down. They keep a positive attitude the whole time, which is so important in life. Even when the world is crashing down around you, take time to breathe, recenter and figure out your next steps.
Lesson 2: They also jump in to help others when needed, without prompting. Many times throughout the show there are kids who get done or have some time while waiting for something to set or bake, and without fail, if they see another kid struggling or falling behind you will hear and see several of them say “What do you need? How can I help?”
Yes, this is a competition but to them, it is more important that everyone turns out the best creation possible. Harry makes a comment at one point about how they do that and then jokingly calls it cheating. He’s technically right, you wouldn’t see adults who are competing for titles or money do that, but the kids don’t waste any time diving in to help each other.
At one point in the later episodes one of the kids, Zack I think it was, tells Naima who is really struggling on her showstopper, “You’re not going home today Naima! We got this!” And he and a few others immediately help her finish decorating her creation. Which is so heartwarming to watch and a great reminder for us adults. Help other people, it’s not hard, just do it.
Lesson 3: Focus on your successes: This is something that the judges, Rav and Liam, reinforce constantly and I love it. No matter how the bake turns out they always use positive language and point out the good points and frame their critiques as “You just need to tweak this little thing! This was such an amazing attempt though, you’ve nearly got it.”
There were a few times when the kids knew that their final product had fallen far short of what either they had planned or had done in an earlier episode and you could see the emotions on their faces. When the kid started to say “Well, this was supposed to be…” Rav often stopped them with a shake of her head and a hand held up and would gently say, “No no, what did you do? Don’t focus on what you wanted to do. What have you created? Tell me about that. Don’t focus on the mistakes, focus on what you accomplished.”
That is a powerful lesson not just for those kids but for all of us.
Lesson 4: Set Boundaries: Remember my comment about Naima being forthright? So, in these shows, the host often walks around and interacts with the competitors during their baking time. I’ve always found that somewhat pointless as these people are on a tight schedule and are being asked to do very complicated bakes, but it is a show so I get it.
Now, with adults, in general, they play along, mostly hiding the fact that it annoys the crap out of them and just multitasks their way through it. The kids, mostly, do that as well, but they don’t hide their frustration like the adults do, and several times you can see them more than pointedly ignoring the host, but Naima is my favorite.
She has no qualms about telling Harry to go away and that she’s busy. She’s always polite about it but he’ll walk over to her and make some comment and multiple times she’d straight up say “I am very busy here and have a lot to do. Can you come back later? I don’t have time for this.”
And every time Harry looks amusingly flabbergasted but also a bit hurt, he’s just doing his job and I think he knows he’s getting in their way but that’s what he gets paid to do. I just love the fact that this young girl has more ability to draw boundaries and tell people no than most adults I know. Everyone needs to learn from her example.
Lesson 5: Support People When They Don’t Succeed. Obviously, this is a competition, so in each episode, a kid gets sent home, and here’s where I think this show really shows its heart. In the adult versions when the person who gets cut is announced there are some hugs and “We’ll miss you” but most of the focus is on the Star Baker. Here it’s the opposite.
As soon as they announce who is going to get cut, the judges and the other kids cluster around that person, Rav, the female judge, usually crouches down so she can be below their eye line and look up at the kid as both she and Liam immediately begin to reassure whichever kid has been cut while the other kids are hugging them or saying similar things. It’s only after they all make sure that the kid who has been cut from the show is going to be okay that either Rav or Liam will say “And let’s celebrate your Star Baker too!” which shifts the mood a bit and lightens things up.
I like the idea that they make sure the kid who gets cut in that episode still understands that they have achieved so much just by being there at all, they remind them of their earlier successes in the show and really home in on the idea that them going home doesn’t mean they’re a failure. That’s something we all need to remember, that just because you have a setback doesn’t mean you failed.
This show has so much heart, so many fun moments, and the things these kids bake will blow your mind. I highly recommend watching it and seeing which life lessons a bunch of young bakers can teach you.
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