Children are often intrigued with cooking with a natural curiosity of helping in the kitchen. This is the perfect opportunity to develop your child’s skills and learning in a fun and creative way. Not to mention the time you get to spend together.
In a society that cooks less and less at home due to busy lives and sometimes a lack of knowledge, teaching kids the fundamentals of cooking can help them to be confident in the kitchen and healthier in their future years.
Simple tasks such as stirring, pouring, cooking with others and following a recipe can teach children life skills.
Here are some of the skills your children can develop while cooking:
Mathematics
Cooking exposes kids to measuring teaching them about quantities, addition and subtraction, multiplication and division.
Science
Cooking is a great introduction to science teaching kids about certain ingredients that do and don’t work together, raising agents, ingredients that react to each other such as bicarbonate soda and vinegar or oil and water.
Literacy
Using and following a recipe exposes kids to reading text and numbers.
Vocabulary
Cooking can teach kids a whole range of words from different foods and cooking utensils to cooking methods and techniques.
Fine motor skills
Cooking can be great for developing and using those fine motor skills. A chance to use strength and coordination with stirring, scoping, measuring, kneading and decorating.
Life skills and nutrition
Cooking teaches kids how to look after themselves and others. It teaches good nutrition, food preparation, working together as a team in the kitchen or working individually following instructions to accomplish something. It can also create a relaxed and safe place for kids to talk to family, friends or parents about life challenges, concerns and accomplishments.
Keeping it fun.
Cooking should be a fun experience. A time to express yourself, be creative and have a laugh.
There are many more skills cooking can offer such as safety, patience, practice, self-esteem, planning, horticulture, teamwork and more. Whether you are cooking easy recipes or perfecting intricate techniques cooking has so much to offer adults and kids alike and if nothing else it is a great way to bond, have a fun and share some tasty food.
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