“Cooking with kids is not just about ingredients, recipes, and cooking. It’s about harnessing imagination, empowerment, and creativity.” –Guy Fieri, American restaurateur.
It’s time to make mealtime preparation interesting by getting your children involved in the kitchen! Cooking together is not only a great way to keep them entertained, but also a fantastic learning and bonding opportunity. It is one way to teach your child about nutrition and vital life skills, whilst creating memories that will last. So let’s put on our aprons and transform our little ones into budding sous chefs with these culinary experiences!
1. Follow a Simple Recipe
The simplest recipe may sound easy enough for you but through the eyes of a child, it can be rather complex! Begin with basic and fun dishes like pizzas or baked potatoes. Even that itself is an exciting adventure. Following step-by-step instructions encourages your child to be independent and build their confidence. Handling different methods of preparation exposes them to all sorts of useful skills that they will bring to their adulthood.
Counting and measuring ingredients involves maths and numeracy. Reading the recipe builds on literacy and vocabulary. Observing batter turning into a solid cake in the oven? That’s science! Also, working together with your child as a team also promotes social and communication skills. Research has shown that younger generations tend to cook less, with more millennials and youths hesitant or unable to perform basic cooking tasks and opting for takeaways instead. By getting your child familiar with the kitchen and fostering an appreciation for cooking from the early years, you are giving them valuable tools to care for their wellbeing and nutrition in the future.
2. Roll Up Your Sleeves and Get Hands-On
Cooking with children can get pretty messy, but these moments are what makes the entire process enjoyable! There is no better time to let them get their hands dirty — you can also take this opportunity to teach the importance of cleanliness and hygiene before getting started.
During preparation, your child can knead the dough, crack eggs, stir batter, squeeze lemons or try their hand at chopping or slicing soft foods like potatoes and fruit with child-safe knives. These interactive activities do wonders for developing your child’s fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
3. Unleash Their Creativity
Cooking is an excellent way to foster creativity. Promote your child to head chef and let them take the reins by inventing their own recipe! Together, you might discover a new combination that works. If you’re feeding a picky eater, allowing them to get involved and have a say in the cooking process could make them more adventurous in trying new foods.
Bring out the artist in your child — attempt to build a gingerbread house using baked confectionary and infuse excitement with a cookie decorating contest amongst the family!
Spending time in the kitchen can be highly educational and help foster a close bond between parent and child, it is also equally important to develop their skills with early childhood education. At MindChamps, our research-backed curriculum is designed to nurture all aspects of your child and equip them with a strong foundation of skills to set them up for success in the future. Book a visit to one of our centres to learn more about our Early Learning and PreSchool programme today.