7 Benefits of Cooking with Kids
When you cook with your kids, you are giving them a beautiful gift! That’s because there are many benefits of cooking with your kid.
Below, learn 7 benefits of cooking with kids:
Did you know that kids who help with food preparation are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables? That’s a great benefit of cooking with kids! If your child refuses to try vegetables, one of the best things you can do for them is to have them start helping out in the kitchen. But, be patient! Kids may need to try a food up to 10 times before accepting it.
Another benefit of cooking with your kid is that they’ll grow up into a more responsible and successful adult. Research shows that children who participate in chores such as food preparation become more successful young adults.
When cooking, children need to learn how to stir, chop, and pour. These are especially important skills that young children will later use when they write, color, and perform other academic tasks. Through cooking, children can build their fine motor skills and hand strength. For example, when learning to cut with a wooden knife, children must grip the knife and make precise movements.
When children know how to prepare basic snacks like crackers and cheese, a fruit salad, or similar items, children build independence. Not only will it save you time (parenting win!), but independence is an important goal of childhood. Children need to gain life skills, including cooking skills, to grow into capable adults.
Children who are able to contribute to the household build self-esteem. You can help your child with this by encouraging their efforts. For example, if your child slices a cucumber and lays out the slices on a plate to enjoy, say “Now, we’ll have Suzy’s cucumber. Thanks for making it for us!” Your child will naturally feel proud of their contribution to the family meal.
When cooking, you can measure and count ingredients as you go. For example, count out the biscuits as you place them on the tray or count the cups of flour as you add them to the dough. Encourage older children to read cookbooks and help convert recipes to 1/2 recipes or double recipes.
For very young children, one of the important benefits of cooking with kids is that it builds concentration. Young children need to work on building their concentration muscles to succeed at school! Cooking is one area where children can work on this muscle. Whether your child is shaping dough, following an entire child-friendly recipe, or cutting up ingredients, they’ll have to concentrate for ten minutes or more. You can slowly build your child’s concentration muscles by offering them more and more difficult or lengthy child-friendly kitchen activities.
There are so many benefits of cooking for kids!
So, get out your aprons, kitchen helper tower, child-friendly knife, and start cooking! You won’t regret it.
