Cooking to an adult is a chore, but it is a fun learning experience to the children. Children loves cooking because it gives them the opportunity to “play” around. Kneading and rolling out the dough is so exciting to the children, just like their Play-Doh. It not only keeps your child occupied, but will also help in development of fine motor development and hand coordination, especially the younger ones.
Cooking is also a great learning tool because the child can be taught how to read recipes. This will help them improve their reading and comprehension skills. You can also take this opportunity to teach your child the different ingredients used in cooking and many other activities which is not taught in the classroom. The school holidays will be an ideal time to experiment with a few simple recipes. Help them develop their math skills in your cooking session by asking them to measure or weigh the ingredients. Get them to do conversions from one unit of measurement to another e.g. pound to kilogram. These activities will help to reinforce what they learn in school.
Safety Aspects In Cooking
Cooking is great fun but as a parent you should instill the sense of safety into your cooking session. Teach your little one to understand the dangers of fire and safety precautions to take when handling fire. Show your kids how to use the oven mitts when handling hot objects. Pot lids should be removed the farthest from you to release the hot steam and most important of all is how to handle the fire extinguisher when things get out of hand.
The same goes with sharp object like knives, barbeque fork and other similar tools. Place these objects in safe area to prevent accidents. Your children should also be taught to keep the kitchen clean at all times. All utensils and tools need to be cleaned after cooking. Teach your child to clean knife in the proper way.
Modern kitchen comes with modern conveniences. This includes electrical appliances like blender, fruit juicer, microwave oven and many others. If your child is old enough to use these equipment, teach them the proper way to handle such items. When cooking, the hand is always wet. Teach them never to touch electrical appliances and switches with a wet hand.
Fun During The Holidays
Cooking during the school holidays will help kill the boredom. Let your children and probably some of their friends cook something simple over the holidays. It will be a great experience for a change. Suggest some simple recipes and guide them whenever necessary. Let it be their show and never interrupt in their planning and cooking, unless needed. They will have to plan and organize the menu by themselves with as little adult supervision as possible. These cooking activities will help your children feel proud of themselves and build up their self confidence.
Conclusion
Fun and games will help in child development and cooking can be one of them. As parents, we should expose our children to as many opportunities as possible to help our child’s development. Cooking can also be used to reinforce what our children learn from school as applied to our ordinary daily activities.
