Kids in the Kitchen

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Did you ever consider all the lessons kids can learn in the kitchen, which can benefit them both at home and at school? Here’s why I believe ALL school-age kids should join their moms and dad in the kitchen.

1- Cooking teaches your child about eating well.

Kids are receptive to conversations about nutrition. Planning a menu is an opportunity to explain smart food choices. Take the time to discuss the different food groups and encourage kids to experiment with foods.

I can tell you with certainty, using my own daughter as an example when she was just a little kid, a child who has a hand in making the vegetables will be a little more willing to sample them at the table!

2 – Sharing food means sharing memories and good conversation.

Grandma’s secret zucchini bread recipe can be your chance to pass on a little bit of family history. Did you love peanut butter and banana sandwiches when you were 8? Tell your child about the foods you liked as a kid.

The kitchen is also a great place to ask thought-provoking questions of your child such as, “To make a really colorful dinner, which foods would you include?”

3 – Cooking can also foster responsibility.

Kids learn to follow the steps in recipe directions, how to safely handle kitchen items (with reminders along the way!), to put things back where they belong, to clean up spills as they happen as well as to clean up after themselves when the project is completed.

4 – Your kitchen is a learning laboratory.

As your child learns to crack eggs and stir sauce, he or she is also gaining new science, language, and math skills.

Basic math skills (“Are we putting in more salt or baking soda?”) . . . and

Sequencing skills (“What’s first? next? last?”) . . . give way to

Fractions (“Is this 3/4 of a cup?”)

• When my daughter was about 5 years old, I would put a large bag of mini carrots and another of string beans on the counter. Then, I’d ask her to measure out five 1-cup servings of carrots and count out 17 string beans five times and put them in 10 snack-size zip lock bags for me to take to my office for work-day snacks.

Reading recipes can improve reading comprehension, and something as simple as salt sprinkled on an ice cube demonstrates basic science principles.

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Childhood obesity is a raging epidemic. The key to warding that off for your own children is encouraging a healthy eating lifestyle (which is good for you as well!). Having your kids in the kitchen will make it fun for you both and, importantly, put them on a good track for slimness, wellness, fitness and happiness.