Parents often look for better and healthier ways to teach, converse, and connect with their children. While schools may provide ample learning opportunities for children, their home life is also a great opportunity for learning.
The family kitchen is often the center and heart of a home. It is a place for conversations with spouses and a coloring station for children. It is also where meals are created. Children who are more involved in the kitchen (with parent supervision, of course) can reap significant benefits in terms of learning, nutrition, and social and emotional wellness.
Children who learn by doing at a younger age are more likely to retain knowledge and apply it in their everyday lives. Handling food and kitchen tools engages all of their senses during food preparation, making the experience more memorable and relatively easy to duplicate. They can also enhance their language development by describing how certain ingredients feel, smell, and taste. They learn about how food melts, freezes, and burn and also recognize changes in color, form, and texture.
Kitchen activities also aid in the physical development of children. They can improve their motor and hand-eye coordination by chopping, squeezing, pouring, and spreading ingredients. They can also learn about safety by starting with the most manageable tasks and progressing to more complex jobs.
When presented with a recipe, children can learn how to follow directions and understand the consequences of making mistakes. They improve their comprehension and reading skills and gain practical mathematical skills by weighing ingredients, examining quantities, and adjusting fractions. Furthermore, parents who encourage their children to create recipes promote creativity and improve their problem-solving skills.
Children who have some involvement in making their food are also more willing to accept and eat it. When parents spend time with their children in the kitchen, they can discuss food choices and how they impact their health. In addition, children can learn the importance of eating a balanced meal and the right portion size for optimal growth.
Preparing food using fresh ingredients instills a sense of ownership. As they grow older, children who prepare and cook their meals with their parents can distinguish between healthy ingredients and nutritionally void foods. They develop a mature palate and often prefer to spend time and effort preparing home-cooked meals over processed foods. When they are older, they are more likely to try different cuisines from other cultures because they had similar, positive experiences when they were younger.
Time spent cooking in the kitchen can also develop into a family bonding activity to improve children’s social and emotional wellness as they become adolescents and young adults. They gain a life skill that will help them live independently and share responsibilities with their peers as they grow older.
Children who prepare food from start to finish also develop a sense of accomplishment, improving their confidence and self-worth. Contributing to their family can provide a sense of pride for children, knowing that other family members, especially their parents, welcome, support, and recognize their efforts.
