The Benefits of Cooking with Kids
When you have children, one of the most important times you can have with them is known as bonding time. Cooking is just one of the many ways you can achieve this bonding time with your children, but it is also one of the best ways to teach them some life skills that can’t really be learned anywhere else. Children of all ages can benefit from some bonding – and cooking – time with their parents, siblings, or guardians. It teaches them to explore their senses in a new fashion while also engraining life skills. By educating your children about the wonders of cuisine in the best way possible, cooking with your kids can bring about some lifelong memories and fun times. Here are just a few of the benefits inherent in cooking with your children.
1. Cooking Encourages Learning!
Cooking is an opportunity to teach your kids loads of important life skills, but chief among them is the discernment to make healthier eating choices. When experimenting in the kitchen with you, your kids learn what is and isn’t good to routinely fuel their growing bodies with. Fast food and junk food (always processed and bagged items) are contributing to the rise of child obesity throughout the world.
Having your children learn to make healthier eating choices by making their own food helps them to enjoy a wider variety of more nutritious foods, because there’s nothing like home cooking. In addition, introducing your children to the culinary process can show them delicious ways to enjoy veggies, fruits, and nutritious meats. Picky eaters – especially children – are more apt to try the foods they’ve prepared with you than anywhere else.
Reading recipes with your children also encourages their continued reading in general, in addition to problem-solving and directional comprehension. Modeling your own cooking skills while actively working with your children to have them participate provides them with a positive example of healthy eating (and, in some cases, a delicious dessert). You can even find ways to incorporate school subjects into your cooking time with the kids by tying in basic spelling words and arithmetic when planning your recipes!
2. Cooking Creates Healthy Kitchen Habits.
Beyond making healthier nutritional choices, cooking also encourages healthy food hygiene and safety in the kitchen. Cooking with your children educates them about proper cooking tools, the right temperatures at which foods should be cooked and prepared, and the importance of maintaining a clean kitchen.
Kids who learn the benefits of food safety at a young age are more conscious of the fact that spoiled, expired, or incorrectly prepared foods can make their friends and family sick. They also learn that washing their hands before preparing a delicious meal is especially important in maintaining correct cooking hygiene.
They also learn that they must thoroughly wash cooking implements, fruits, and vegetables to remove any viral contamination, bacteria or germs that may be present. Finally, children learn that food is not infinitely sustainable – they figure out that milk can spoil, in addition to discovering that commonly refrigerated foods can go bad if not properly stored.
3. Cooking Encourages Physical Safety!
Beyond the scope of cooking a delicious meal, children who cook with their parents also learn about the hazards present in any well-stocked kitchen. These hazards can come in many forms, but the most common among them are cooking tools and implements. Sharp knives, large two-pronged forks, and other sharp tools are chief among the instruments that children learn to use properly and safely when cooking under the supervision of a parent.
In addition, children learn about the dangers of literally playing with fire – working with hot items is a skill that must be learned. Making sure your kids know how to properly utilize a microwave oven or stove will become important for them down the road. Teaching your children important life skills such as these will ensure that they know how to provide their own meals when they become a little bit older.
4. Cooking Provides an Outlet for Bonding Time.
Children who cook with their parents develop a stronger bond with their parents – it’s that simple. Cooking is one of the most common practices that we take part in, and it’s no surprise that children who learn how to cook with their parents report a stronger connection with them down the line. Fun memories, delicious meals, and spending quality time together create the perfect storm in the process of developing a stronger bond between you and your kids.
While cooking, children benefit from one-on-one time with a parent – and they also feel as though they are contributing to something that is larger than themselves. They also enjoy the opportunity to create fun and loving memories with their parents. In addition, it’s proven that cooking with your children can actually further develop their self-esteem! This development in personal growth comes from a child’s ability to recognize when they have accomplished something of value – the value being the delicious meal you will both enjoy after completing the culinary process.
Final Thoughts
No matter when you decide to cook with your children, they will appreciate the quality time spent together. Whether your child is 5 or 15, there is much to be learned in the kitchen! Kids who cook with their parents develop a variety of life skills and personal qualities that remain absent for a lot of other families. Cooking creates the perfect bonding experience between you and your child because of the accomplishment found in creating something from scratch.
Cooking with your children is a fun pastime, and it can make the hours go by like minutes. With the development of COVID-19, teaching your children all about food safety and the importance of washing their hands before and after meals comes in handy. And finally, cooking is an enjoyable experience. The culinary process certainly has something to offer us all, if we just give it a chance!
Take some time to make a meal with your kids today – chances are, you’ll both appreciate it!