Get Your Kids Cooking!
The kitchen is a great place to get your kids busy learning and developing. When kids cook, they are busy reading (cookbooks), performing math (measuring), watching science in action (heat alters food), learning about geography and other cultures (making foods from other lands), and following directions (recipes). So many skills can be taught through cooking in the kitchen!
Get your kids actively involved in kitchen activities and you will be surprised how much fun everyone has. Most kids enjoy learning to cook and create in the kitchen and ALL kids love to eat. What better family activity?
To start kids off in the kitchen (even when they are quite young) consider letting them:
wash fruits and vegetables
stir ingredients in a mixing bowl
measure and pour ingredients
grate cheese
set the timer
read a recipe out loud
press the “start” button on the blender or food processor
The more involved your kids are in meal preparation, the more involved they will be in the end result. This means that they will be more likely to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet and will be more likely to try new foods.
A suggestion: Let your kids choose a recipe they would like to make as a family and then shop together for the ingredients needed to make it. Kids will feel such a sense of accomplishment in helping prepare an entire meal from start to finish. Not only will they learn the cooking skills necessary to prepare a meal, you and your children will be spending quality time interacting with each other.
