Let’s Get Started…..
It is best to choose a day that is low on stress and one where you have time for an enjoyable time. Your time in the kitchen could be a Saturday morning when there is no school or Why not during school as a lesson. Whatever works best for you (the teacher) and your child or children. Remember to make the experience fun, stress-free and enjoyable.
*Remember that learning to cook is a continuous learning experience not something that is learned in one cooking session.
Delegate Tasks…
From the age of four, children learn to follow direction and duplicate tasks. This is a great time to begin working with them on delegating tasks. From cutting soft vegetables, like steamed broccoli, to pealing a potato, children can take a lot of the redundant tasks off of your hands; and they will be happy to do so.
Children love to be in the kitchen, it makes them feel important and grown up because they believe the kitchen is reserved for "big people." Giving them a few tasks to perform helps to build their confidence and begins teaching them about kitchen safety. As they get older, you will find yourself needing to do less and less as they become more comfortable around the tools and foods of the kitchen. Each of our cooking lesson levels have appropriate tasks per age
Have Them Clean Up Afterwards…
Sometimes, cooking with children is not stressful, until it is time to clean up. This could be another delegated task, but just having them help can remove a big part of stress. Let one wipe the scraps into the trash while the other rinses the plate off to hand to you. Make cleaning up just as much fun as the cooking and it will not be a problem getting your kids to help out.
Cooking with your children can be an extremely joyous and fun time. It takes a little thinking ahead, the right tools and a good attitude, but nothing you can't accomplish on your own. Call the your little ones, give them a peeler and a task and watch as your stress levels are peeled off like that potato.
Sometimes it is difficult to get children interested in the workings of a kitchen. While we have already discussed why it is important, let's take a look at how we can excite them enough to get started.
Let Them Experiment…
Children love to try new things and the kitchen is a great place to do it. It is easy to clean up if there is a mess and with the proper instruction on safety, the kitchen can be a great place to get creative. Of course, some experiments fail, but no matter what happens, we, as adults, have the open door to discuss what happened and why it happened.
Children get excited when they get to play around and experimenting in the kitchen is just that. The once elusive domain is now within reach and not only that, they get to have fun and play around. If you want to get kids fired up, give them the ability to play in the one area they were previously banned from entering.
Let Them Ask Questions…
Questions are a great tool to spark a children's interest. Children ask questions because they want to know and understand how things work and why they do what they do. It is important to field all of the questions you can when teaching a child to cook. It is also fun for the adult, even if they don't know the answer, to sit down with a child, find the answer and talk about what they found out.
Questions lead to more questions and bonds become tighter. Making room in the kitchen to stop and have a discussion will keep a child interested and will help them develop critical thinking skills for later in life. Learning how to ask the right question is also an important part of growing up. For instance, there is a big difference in the answer to "Where does milk come from" and "How do we get our milk.”
Another great way to keep the interest flowing is to ask a question back. For instance, in the "Where does milk come from" question above, ask them where they think it comes from. This is a great tool to unpack and straighten out any wrong information they might have received in the past.
Let Them Have Room to Do It on Their Own…
This step will probably make some adults extremely nervous. Yes, you read correctly, let them have room to do it on their own. Let the child try their hand at certain tasks and then ask you for help if needed. This is a great way to spark interest because they get to put their hands on things sooner.
Children love to try new things, especially when there are not a bunch of rules and regulations that come before they get to play. Let your children discover that there has to be an easier way to stir the cake mix than with a fork and that pouring the flour slowly will keep it from puffing up their noses.
It is easy to get children interested in cooking when they have some room to experiment, ask questions and try their hand at something new. The best way to keep a child interested is to get in the kitchen with them and learn to relax a little and have fun. So get up, grab your little Munchies and get into the kitchen to kick-start the fun.
Just a few pointers to help you get started…
Cheers,
Stephanie