Cooking With Kids

November 12, 2010, By Kurt D. Moore 0 comments

When my son was a few years old, he became captivated with watching me cook. He would come into the kitchen and “cook” himself, which often meant playing with his plastic foods from his toy kitchen and placing them into pots of water. As he got older, this turned into filling pots with water in the kitchen sink so that he could take spices and make his own concoctions.

As children start school, there are even more lessons they'll learn in the kitchen – everything from how to count to how to read. By letting children help in the kitchen, you teach them life skills such as teamwork. They get to start making choices and use their imagination as they learn how different foods taste together and what ingredients make sense. They also learn responsibility, such as cleaning up after cooking, and how to follow directions.

To get started, pick a fun food like pizza. Have them help spread the sauce, add the cheese and even sprinkle on some garlic powder. Have them add toppings to the pizza, like pineapple. This encourages them to use their imagination, though keep it within reason so that you are not wasting food. They learn about choices, such as learning from their mistakes when making certain types of foods. And they may be more likely to eat foods that they help prepare.

To help your children with math, have them count, sort, weigh or measure how many vegetables you need. Have them help by reading the recipe aloud (there are lots of kid-friendly recipes online) and teach them new vocabulary words (like the difference between mince, chop and dice). Steps like mixing, stirring and kneading help children develop fine motor skills.

While you're cooking, share some science such as how water freezes or boils or how different spices mix together to produce a certain taste. Social studies can also fit into the lesson. If they are studying different places in the world, explain where different foods originate and how they got here.

While cooking, share healthy eating tips, such as the five food groups and the importance of eating food from each food group every day, as well as basics about washing hands and refrigerating foods.

Of course, there are also precautions you should take with kids in the kitchen:

• Make sure everyone keeps their hands clean and washes them after handling food to prevent food-borne illnesses
• Keep raw and cooked foods separate
• Don't let kids lick their fingers if you're cooking with raw meat (hamburgers) or eggs (cookie dough)
• Keep kids away from boiling liquids and use caution when there's a live stove or oven going, especially a gas stove
• Keep knives and sharp things safely out of reach. 

Cooking with your kids is rewarding way for both of you to learn and have fun. Just remember to give the littlest ones simple tasks (so they don't get bored too quickly), and expect a few spills and messes along the way.