Teaching Kids to Cook: Back to the Basics

Getting your kids in the kitchen is a great way to teach them new skills and bond together as a family. Read on to find out how to get started. There once was a time where cooking was even taught in public school. However, times have changed and now it’s up to you as a parent to teach your child how to cook. Learning how to cook is a valuable life skill that a child will take with them into adulthood. Life skills aren’t the only reason to teach your children how to cook. Getting together in the kitchen as a family also makes time and space for some great bonding moments and memories that will last your kids a lifetime. Is there any better argument for teaching them to cook early than that?

Other Reasons for Teaching Kids to Cook

If you’re still not sure of the benefits of getting your kids in the kitchen, here are a few more.

1. Allowing your child to cook can be a creative outlet. After all, if you love to cook and create, doesn’t it stand to reason your child might too?
2. Allowing your kid to cook empowers them so that they learn to be independent and autonomous.
3. Allowing your kid to cook teaches them how to follow directions and fosters their language skills as they learn new words.
4. Allowing your kid to cook introduces them to new tastes, textures and flavors in food that can give them a passion for good nutrition.
5. Allowing your kid to cook also challenges their math and science skills. Every moment spent in the kitchen is a learning experiment.

Tips for Teaching Kids to Cook

With all of those benefits to baking with your kids and teaching a child how to cook, it’s kind of a no brainer. But if you’re like many parents, you may be at a loss as to how to start.

Stay Fun and Lighthearted

The biggest thing you should keep in mind when teaching your kids how to cook is to keep it fun. Stay lighthearted, try to keep your monstrous anxiety under wraps and give your children the space they need to learn and grow. By making it fun and keeping it light, you can foster a love of cooking that may follow them into adulthood. Who knows, they could become the next big chef on TV! However, that doesn’t mean you should allow them to do anything unsupervised, because there are a variety of potential hazards in the kitchen. Always monitor them closely and teach them proper techniques, but strive to keep the learning fun, not nerve-wracking. This can be helped by choosing kid-friendly recipes that don’t require too much skill to make.

Teach and Experiment

Cooking lessons are like combining the subjects of vocabulary, math and science all in one. Use the opportunities in the kitchen to teach your kids how to measure (math), how to pronounce new words (vocabulary) and how to observe results (science). You can also take this opportunity to teach them things like safety and hygiene, which are important when preparing food, especially when you’re working with raw meats. Kids learn they don’t just wash their hands to keep germs at bay, but also to keep bacteria from spreading and getting into the food they eat. Try to resist dumbing down what they are learning too much because that doesn’t help them in the long run. Ultimately, be less concerned with how the recipes turn out and more concerned with what your child is learning and how your child feels about their achievements. Teaching a child to cook, even if the meal tastes like rocks, helps your child build self-esteem and a sense of accomplishment.  

Balance Your Wants with Theirs

Given the choice, every kid everywhere would rather make fun Beagle Cookies over stew. That’s fine, you can and should allow them to make fun treats like cookies or kid-friendly breakfast meals like Gingerbread Pancakes. Just make sure you are balancing that with teaching them how to make healthier food options, like a delicious dinner entree, or a fruit salad. This may require some negotiation on your part. Make a deal that if they want to learn to make cookies to eat after dinner, they have to first learn to help prepare dinner. Our 5 Ingredient Almond Chicken Tenders are an excellent trade-off that your kids will love to both cook and eat in exchange. At the end of the day, teaching kids to cook is a basic life skill that will serve them well into their future. If you don’t take the time to teach them ways to make healthy meals for themselves, who will?