First time brewing question

I started a "Barons, Red Wood Ale" brewing kit 4 days ago and everything seems to be going well so far. This is my first time brewing and I'm not sure about the whole process. I noticed in the instructions it says "sprinkle the yeast packet onto the surface of the wort, do not stir." I did as it says and sprinkled without stirring but that brought up a question.

I've seen many youtube videos that show people stirring the yeast into the wart. So this makes me wonder. Does stirring in the yeast vs. sprinkling it onto the surface make a difference in the final product?

Not really. In brewing you will find there is more than one way to skin a cat. There is rarely a "Best" way, only a preffered way.

In fact there is a saying in homebrewing, "Ask 10 different brewers the same question and you'll get 12 different answers."

you really should rehydrate dry yeast before adding it. because the yeast are dry they will have a hard time drawing in the wort you have dropped them in. this will stress the yeast. but seeing as you got fermentation going i wouldn't worry on it to hard.

I just brewed my first last night. Per advice of many I boiled 2 cups of water and took it off the burner placed a thermometer in and when the water hit 100f I put the dry yeast in. After about 10 minutes I could clearly see the activated yeast in the pan. I pitched the entire contents into the carboy. I had active fermentation in 4 hours. I also aerated the wort with a wisp while it was chilling.

+1 on rehydrating dry yeast, been having great results with dry yeast, I use the following procedure to rehydrate/proof the yeast:

1. Boil a few ounces of water
2. Cover with sanitized saran wrap
3. Cool water to 90F - 100F
4. Pour in yeast, don't stir initially, let it sit for about 10 minutes
5. After 10 minutes stir the yeast to reduce clumping, let sit for 20-25 minutes
6. When wort is at proper temp, pitch

I usually start boiling the water for proofing about midway through my wort boil, it is usually cooled to 90-100 by the time my boil finishes up. When I start up my IC I do step 4 & 5. Wort is usually at temp and transferred to my bucket by the end of step 5 and I am ready to pitch.