Involve your Kids in the Kitchen

A great Activity for the Family

With a little effort, cooking can be a fun and rewarding activity for all the family. Not only will your kids enjoy cooking with you, they will get many other benefits from it too. Cooking with your kids is likely to get them more interested in healthy eating - an ongoing challenge for all mums and dads! The earlier kids are exposed to nutritious foods, the less likely they will be to enjoy eating processed, packaged foods.

Home made meals contain much fewer chemicals, sweeteners and calories than any store bought meals. Kids are much more likely to eat what they cook themselves. If you are having trouble getting your kids to eat their veggies, having them prepare this part of the meal may prompt them to try them and discover that they actually enjoy eating them.

By involving your kids in the cooking, they will gain a hugely important lifelong skill. Although it may be hard to imagine, one day your kids will be going to college and living their own lives. Do you really want to be cooking all of their meals for them at that stage?.. I didn’t think so. Cooking with your kids is a great opportunity to teach them about the origins of food and where it comes from. Kids can learn about other cultures, languages and geography through food.

As cooking is a hands on experience it is a fantastic way for them to learn. Your kids will be able to practice their maths and reading skills by reading recipes and weighing ingredients. Even the littlest of chefs have the opportunity to enhance their fine motor skills by helping you with pouring and stirring (and maybe even licking the spoon!) Cooking is a great way to spend time with your kids. By making cooking together a habit, you may be able to continue this into their teenage years, when finding time to spend together becomes even more important.

We all know that most kids love to watch tv and play computer games, but sometimes it can be very difficult to tear them away from the screens. One great advantage to cooking with your kids is that they won’t be doing either of these things during that time. Instead they will feel like they are accomplishing something as they watch their efforts move towards a (delicious) finished product! While there are great advantages to having your kids in the kitchen with you, it’s not always an easy job.