Sometimes cooking can be intimidating and to keep family happy we could order food from outside. Another reason for ordering or eating food from outside could be lacking basic cooking skills or could be no time to cook. During pandemic, people who has not stepped into kitchen often started cooking at home. It saved money but finding varieties of recipes to keep family happy is intimidating too.  

If you are into cooking and have kids, then you are obliged to prepare varieties of food whether pandemic or no pandemic. Instead of cooking all by yourself, teach your kids few simple recipes this will help them to thrive through life and teaches valuable skills.

How learning cooking helps kids:

Kids learning cooking helps them to explore their creativity, prepares them for pandemic kind of situations and teaches them important life lessons like the efforts to cook, not to waste food etc. .  

1. It boosts kids’ development: Mixing, measuring, kneading, arranging helps to improve their cognitive skills.
2. Learning hygiene: Washing groceries, vegetables, fruits, cleaning the countertop, getting ready for dinner or lunch, will help them to understand the importance of hygiene and science behind microbial infection.
3. Improves language development: While assigning kids small work, you need to communicate, and kids must respond. If they have questions, they must clarify with you. If you tell kid to write down the ingredients of a recipe it improves and increases child’s vocabulary.
4. Improvement in math: All most all recipes call for measurements. Kids will learn to use cups, tablespoon, kitchen weighing machine, teaspoon etc. that helps to improve their basic math skills that is essential in day-to-day life.
5. Attention and focus improvement: While cooking we need to be attentive and focused. Any small mistake spoils the taste of food. Focusing on food preparation helps kid to be attentive in learning and keeps them focused on studies or whatever they are going to learn.
6. Improves motor skills: Using cookie cutters, rolling chapatis, using ladle, pouring ingredients, mixing ingredients helps to improve their motor skills.
7. Reading skills: While cooking, have kid read the recipe and follow the instruction. Reading loud and following the cooking directions, helps kids reading ability.
8. Science concept: Talking about ingredients, vegetables, fruits, groceries, and chemistry behind the ingredients will help child to understand the scientific world of food. It helps them to understand the healthy food and nutrition science and to focus on their health.
9. Sense of accomplishment: When cooking completed using a recipe, it builds self-confidence. A small success yields positive result. A sense of happiness, accomplishment, pride, and confidence boosts self-esteem.
10. Healthy eating: As mentioned earlier, kids will start noticing the calorie value of foods. They will start noticing the difference between fatty food, junk food, healthy food, how it is important to eat certain food that provides good nutrition for the body to be healthy.
11. Improves relationship and family bonding: Spending time with siblings, grand parents and parents is the best part of cooking. It develops a strong bond between the family. Agreeing to cook something interesting and liked by all is the fist step to bond. Second step is to gather ingredients and cooking together. It brings joy to kids and adults in the family.
12. Improves kids taste buds: If you have picky eaters, exposing them to various flavors and tastes helps kid to explore to new foods, flavors and expands their palate.

By helping and learning cooking kids will learn most valuable lessons  of life. In case, parents are not around or sick, using simple recipes kids might be able to prepare something to eat. Even simple sandwich or mixing cereal with fruit when they are hungry will keep their stomach full. Learn what are the age-appropriate cooking skills you can teach your kid and help them to improve their life skills.  

Image credit: Photo by August de Richelieu from Pexels (Free for commercial use)