Being in the kitchen and cooking with your children gives you the perfect opportunity to share life experiences, talk about any issues that may be bothering you child, and can provide a safe place for them to share their fears. I have often found it is easier to learn what is going on my daughter's world when we are standing at the kitchen counter with a mixing bowl between us. There's just something natural and freeing about preparing a meal together, conversation naturally webs and flows over subjects important to your children without the interruptions of the day to interfere.
Cooking with your children can also serve as an opportunity to introduce your children to many life skills. Cooking with your children provides an excellent opportunity to introduce or reinforce the use of fractions in daily life and the concept of matter. Cooking reinforces counting skills as well as reading skills in preschool and early elementary students without your children even realizing they are learning. When you cook with your children you are taking the opportunity to teach your child hand-eye coordination and balance, not lessons one would usually think of when in the kitchen I know. It requires a lot of coordination and balance to pour large amounts of anything into another container without spilling some of it; think of the self-control you must have to crack an egg without smashing it all over counter. These are just a few of the important life lessons your child learns from you each and every time you pull up a chair and invite them to cook along side you.
Meal preparation is the perfect time to discuss the nutritional benefits of the meal you are preparing together, children are naturally very interested in learning about how the different vitamins effect their bodies. Cooking together is also a prime time to teach children about portion control and how to create a balanced meal. While these lessons many seem trivial in the moment, you are instilling lasting values and passing down important life lessons that will not soon be forgotten. Nor will the emotional benefits that come from the one-on-one time spent with your child. As a parent there are many teachable moments in day-to-day life and yet it is important not to look over the immense effect the small things can have on our children.
Do you cook with your kids?
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Amanda Henson, Community Manager