8 Reasons to Start Cooking with your Kids!
Here are 8 reasons to start cooking with your kids today!
Have you ever had that mom moment when your child discovers something new?! When my daughter was 2 years old she attempted to crack her first egg…AND SHE DID! Not well but the egg cracked!
Those are the memories that last a lifetime! To see their expression of wonder and excitement is amazing!
We can be afraid of missing those moments because of the pressure to have everything clean, updated, healthy homecooked meals, and a million other things…
My solution is to bring my kids into the “chore” side of life. Specifically cooking. Cooking with your kids is a wonderful experience. It may be a bit messier and take a bit longer but the memories you will form with them makes ever bit of flour you clean off the floor worth it.
Here are 8 reasons to start cooking with your kids today!
1. Your Child will learn to cook.
Most people don’t know how to cook these days. With the busyness of our culture it can seem more burdensome to cook then to get takeout. Or pay for a food service.
Teaching both girls and boys the skill of cooking is insanely valuable! Start when they are young and set them up for success in their future. Your child will be able to eat healthier meals by cooking at home, save money going out less and even impress a future partner with a romantic homemade meal.
Not to mention food can be a love language for many so sharing in that experience with them as they grow is priceless.
2. You will develop your kitchen skills.
Teaching someone else is the best way to learn. When your baby is two teach them to crack an egg, when they turn 15 maybe its beef wellington!
Whatever skills you may be helping your child to learn in the kitchen you may be surprised at how much you learn too. From simple skills to more complicated ones you get to learn with your child and share in the experience.
3. It will empower your child!
Every child loves to be a part of mommies world doing adult things like mommy. It gives your child a sense of empowerment and importance when they feel involved in big people things.
Even if cooking with kids means putting some water into a bowl for them to stir! (Or add some food coloring so they get to learn something about colors!) They will feel amazing!
Kids love to be with their parents and are more able to be responsible with big things if we show them we trust them with little things. A little trust and responsibility will go a long way for kids of every age.
4. Encourages kids to discover what they love.
How does a chef discover he loves to cook? Well…probably by cooking? Someone, somewhere at sometime exposed them to food and put a dream in their heart.
What if your child is the next big chef or just falls in love with home cooking.
He/she may never have discovered it if you hadn’t decided to give them the opportunity. Expose your kids to all things you can so that you can help them discover what they love.
5. Makes math fun!
Whether you hate math or love math you will use it in cooking. Using fractions and measurements while cooking doesn’t seem like a boring math problem and your child will develop better math skills.
My daughter had a strong understanding of fractions years before learning it in school. Plus her problem solving skills are great and I can credit all this to the amount of cooking she has done both with me and now on her own.
6. Gives kids a sense of accomplishment and value.
We all want to feel worthy and valued. Its something we desperately search for and its something every parent want to give their child. Empowering your child to learn a life skill like cooking will give them an opportunity to experience some of that value by giving back to their family.
Serving other people gives many an overwhelming sense of value. My daughter at 8 has cooked us meals independently. AND SHE LOVES IT! She feels so great when she gets to choose the dinner for the family and cook it for us.
This comes with age of course but she has been helping me in the kitchen since she was two and now she has made us a shepherds pie all on her own. The sense of accomplishment that she fed the family…and it was good! Was indescribable!
7. Its so fun!
Its so fun! Do your best to be ok with a little extra mess in the kitchen and have fun watching your kid discover new things!
See their face brighten! Laugh together! Dance to some music while you whip up those eggs!
This is an opportunity to have fun and be carefree with your kid while making food for the family! Something you may all of a sudden start looking forward too.
8. Makes your kitchen the heart of the home.
This reason touches my heart the most. My kitchen being a place of safety, peace and love has always been deeply important to me.
I feel so much love by loving other people through food. By creating this safe space in your home everyone will consistently migrate there. Kids may do homework near you while you meal prep, your husband may sit near you while finishing up some work at the kitchen table, or everyone may just be excited to gather for a family dinner.
Creating a safe space in your home is so important and valuable to the feel of your family. It can change the entire culture of a home to create a haven.
Here is a great site with kids cooking resources.
So there you have it! 8 reasons to cook with your kids starting today!
It seems intimidating and maybe overwhelming at first thinking of doing this but don’t feel the pressure to start with something big.
Start out by making brownie mix or break and bake cookies. As your confidence grows so will your childs’.
They are never too old to enjoy cooking together in the kitchen. Even if they seem to cool for you they probably aren’t too cool for fresh chocolate chip cookies out of the oven.
If you enjoyed reading this post on 8 reasons to start cooking with your kids Here are some other great posts you may like! Including a fun cooking with kids challenge!
The experience you get out of cooking with your kids will be beautiful timeless memories that will last a lifetime. You will never regret experiencing more things with your kids.
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