All Good Things Happen in The Kitchen

Children should learn to cook. If it were up to me every family should cook together. It is simple - a basic life skill that can provide you with healthy food. In fact, it is a way for children to feel more independent and proud that they can take care of themselves. Cooking with your kids is a way to spend more time with them, but also it is an opportunity to develop invaluable skills such as eating healthy, sense of achievement and working as a team.

Enjoying Each Other’s Company

My number one reason is bonding. It creates the perfect atmosphere to generate memorable situations. When the kids are cooking it is an opportunity to talk and learn together. For better, or worse, you will get to know your children deeply, and at the same time they know will you. They may spill ingredients all over the kitchen while cooking, and this can make you lose your patience, but your kids will still love you and even will teach you- the grown up, about unconditional love and how you should be ready to forgive.

Picky Eating

You will be cultivating an open-minded approach to new food. When you are engaging your kids in the food preparation, and of course the mess making, they will be more welcoming to try new foods. It actually increases the chance to discover on their own new favourite dishes, welcome new tastes, cultures and attitudes.

Important Life Skills

The best way of learning new things is when you are having fun. Cooking is a survival skill that is not taught in school. Knowing how the zucchini looks like or which veggies and fruits are in season is a way to make a difference between materials and textures. It also develops their motor and math skills. Cooking with your kids provides educational experience for them that they don’t actually realise it is happening. The basic math skill you are using on a regular basis can be easily shown to kids while cooking. Teach your kids about addition, subtraction and counting as you cook.

Life-Long Skills

Learning how to cook at young age will improve the confidence you have as you grow up. By the time you have to move out from your parent’s home you will be able to follow a recipe and cook many basic dishes and several more complicated ones. Eating well is a step towards healthier future. When I was a student I was shocked at how many of my peers didn’t know how to cook and not only that, but they didn’t even have the desire to learn. They were pretty much comfortable with what they were fueling their bodies because they either didn’t know what’s better for them, didn’t care or lack the knowledge to do anything differently.

Messy Moments

It might seem a bit messy at this point, and even for quite a while, but cooking with your children is a valuable investment in their future in terms of food preparation, nutrition and appropriate eating habits. In a perfect world our children would pick up the dirty clothes and even do the laundry, in other words, clean after themselves. But we are far from seeing that in the near future. It is in their nature to be messy and it is in our duties to maintain the cleanliness in our home so that everyone would live in а healthy environment. We experience a lot of icky moments in our homes, but having it properly cleaned on a regular basis, be it with the help of maid services, or by yourself, is essential to protect oneself from the germs and other dirt we leave behind.

Cooking is an Adventure

Kids are curious and creative and being in the kitchen blends perfectly. Cooking sparkles children’s imagination and focuses them on what the end result would be, rather than what is in front of them. Moreover, the concept of mixing together ingredients will show the kids that they can turn them into something delicious and beautiful. By letting them be creative in the kitchen you will be honing very important skills that can transfer into other areas of interests in their lives.