Cooking With Kids
There are many advantages if your kids start as kitchen helper early in life. They have more fun when they are young, they get to spend time with their mom and dad and they can learn mixing and measuring that could help in studies.
Working in kitchen gives your child a sense of pride and accomplishments. Letting them help with meals preparation relays the message that their contributions are important, plus it builds positive associations about cooking and food and grooms them for future. The more they get involved now, more they will help out as they get older.
So how do u make your kid’s kitchen duty fun time?
Allow your child to sit on a stool or chair, so he/she has the work surface as their level. Or you can move work to a lower table.
Dress your kids with apron; ask them to don the chef’s hat. He/she will enjoy doing the work on hand.
Prepare foods that your child likes to eat. Cooking their favorite foods such lemonade, cookies, scrambled eggs, etc conveys the idea that food is pleasurable and preparing it is fun.
Teach your kid how to measure things water, milk, dry ingredients and spices.
Give them fun tasks like squeezing lemons, sprinkling cheese, spreading the icing or cracking eggs.
Assign your kids to plan menu, set the table, read recipes aloud when you cook, add seasonings.
You can buy simple cookbooks written for kids. Supervise when your kids make those recipes. Kids can start making recipes such as dips, salads, smoothies, etc.
After cooking, ensure that cleaning up is a fun process. Ask your child’s help in doing the dishes, sponging the counter, etc. Ask if he/she would help in sweeping the kitchen with a short broom and dustpan.
Supervise everything your kid’s handle while cooking, especially anything to do with stove, oven or knives your self.
