Kitchen Fun for Kids!
By jennybianca
@jennybianca (12912)
Australia
April 10, 2007 1:12am CST
Do you cook with your children? I often did with my daughter. She now has developed some satisfactory skills in the kithen & does very well in home economics at school. But there are other reasons why cooking with your children is beneficial:
1.SENSES:
Children learn through their senses, such as taste, smell, sound & sight.
You can stimulate your childrens senses by allowing them to taste, touch & smell ingredients. Get them to notice the colour & texture.
2. LANGUAGE & NUMERACY:
Kids can learn numeracy & literacy skills by preparing shopping lists and recipes, measuring, chopping, pouring & exploring different cooking ideas.
3. SOCIAL SKILLS:
Kids learn social skills while preparing a meal together.Benefits such as good manners and personal hygiene.Manners such as asking to leave the table, sitting down when you eat & turn taking & sharing.
4. PREPARING:
Foopd preparation teaches kids about which foods work together & which don't. This is important for nutrition.
Stimulating kids interest in food at a young age will give them a life long postive attitude towards food.
1 person likes this
10 responses
@5000ml (1923)
• Belgium
13 Apr 07
I loved to cook as a child! I find the earlier a child learns how to cook the better. My mother and I couldn't work together well in the kitchen (we'd always get into arguments and irritate each other), but my father and I were a great team and I have a lot of great memories of making lovely dinners for my parents.
2 people like this
@chloe9013 (532)
•
13 Apr 07
When i was alot younger, my mother taught me to make cakes and up and till the age of about 12 i made a cake every week for my family to enjoy, often all by myself. Ive never been a huge fan of cake but i enjoyed seeing people eat it and like it. It deffinatly gave me the interest in learning to cook and experimenting with food.
I completely agree with your points and i would also add that it encourages children to actually try the food by involving them in the process of cooking. Great topic.
@bhawnam (1436)
• India
18 Apr 07
well i dont have children yet but my mother used to cook with me and my sister helping her... we were always around and looking what was happening in the kitchen and sometimes even offering a helping hand .. slowly we developed it in ourselves and today i can even cook most of the traditional food that my mom used to cook.
i think it is a gr8 way to hand over the legacy.. :)
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@ksprits (41)
• United States
12 Apr 07
yes i cooked with my son till he got out of school those were the best years of our family now its just me and hubby and hubby tends more to sit in front of the tv waiting till dinner is ready but what ia amazing is we go over to our son and daughter in laws house for dinner and in the kitchen is both bill and his wife and all 3 grand kids each doing their part to make a family meal so i do think we passed on some values to our son (lol hubby didnt learn any LOL)
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@prestocaro (1251)
• United States
12 Apr 07
My mother always had us help in the kitchen if we were home. She did it to keep us occupied, I think. I love to cook now and am considering a career in the food world. My dad would take me grocery shopping when I was a kid as well. It made me more eager to try new foods. It also gave me skills to shop on my own! I met many people in college who had no idea how to pick produce or put together a plan for meals. Lots of my friends went to the grocer every day, lol!
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@KarenO52 (2950)
• United States
18 Apr 07
My kids have always helped me in the kitchen, since they were old enough to stir up a batch of cookies or frost a cake. They are all good cooks now, and my early training has paid off in that when I go to visit them, they can always come up with some exceptionally good dinner for me. I never thought about the other benefits you've listed of learning to cook except for hygeine,measuring, and nutrition but you're right. Also, there is saving money. It's much cheaper and better to have home cooked meals.
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@toonatoons (3737)
• Philippines
10 Apr 07
my niece and nephew like to scramble their eggs themselves. it gives them a sense of responsibility. it's fun cooking with them.
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@GardenGerty (160642)
• United States
11 Apr 07
People sometimes feel like it is just easier to do it themselves, but you have done a good job of explaining what your child will be missing if you do it all yourself. You will miss out on some good times as well. It is amazing what you will talk about as you talk around food.
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@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
10 Apr 07
When my grandmother let me help in the kitchen I learned a lot but what was the best for me was it made me feel so important and that she trusted me to measure correctly and not poison anyone.
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@charms88 (7538)
• Philippines
10 Apr 07
That was informative, jenny. Whenever I'm cooking, both my girls will sit beside the kitchen and asked if I needed something. I will let them beat the egg, mix pancake, and patiently point out the different names of each vegetables I'm preparing. My 6 years old even knows how to brew coffee for me. I'm starting to teach them how to cook rice. I do not mind the mess they're creating in my kitchen. Who knows, maybe, they will be the one to cook for me when I'm old and cranky already, LOL!
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