Imagine havinga child capable of feeding themselves after school or better yet, can treat you to a meal? Getting your kids involved in the kitchen – no matter the age – can teach them valuable life skills while having a lot of fun, and who knows, they may even become a future culinary MasterChef. If your child just so happens to take to cooking check out Chef Works Inc for awesome kids’ clothing for the kitchen. Being able to prepare a meal, even just a sandwich for a friend or themselves, can be a source of pride for a child and build up their confidence.
However, having a 3 year old in the kitchen when you’re trying to get supper on the table in 30 minutes can prolong the process and can bring frustration and impatience into the mix which is not the idea. The idea is to involve the kids when there is no time pressure, starting with baking a sweet treat like cookies is a great idea.
So, to get you inspired, we’ve got 3 reasons to get your kids – young or old – involved in cooking:
- Developing the palette
We’re not talking about oysters and caviar, but allowing children to try different ingredients they perhaps wouldn’t ordinarily like being transformed into something delicious, can broaden their ideas of food. When your kids are cooking they are more likely to try the food they’ve helped make rather than pull up their nose at it. It cultivates a sense of openness towards trying new things not only when eating but in life as well.
- Chatting About Health
When you invite your child to cook with you, it creates a golden opportunity to bring up topics about health and wellness with regards to food. For example, mentioning that eating fish can make you smarter thanks to fatty acids and the more color the better when eating food, because it prevents you from getting sick.
Once your child becomes familiar with ingredients in cooking it can help make shopping more fun too, rather than being a nuisance in the supermarket. Kids will soon learn that you don’t use canned food because fresh is better and sugar is not necessary to add into what you cook.
- Quality time together
When it comes to your kids, there’s nothing more you want as a parent than to develop the bond you share with your child. If you use family recipes you can teach your child about their grandparents and their heritage which they perhaps have heard of but don’t know what that means. It also can show them that it’s ok to make mistakes sometimes, that they can be forgiven and move on because it will still all turn out alright in the end.