The ultimate test of patience and will: allowing your kids to cook with you DUN DUN DUN! For real though, cooking with kids, especially toddlers, gets MESSY. So why should you even bother?
1. Cooking is a lifelong skill that every kid needs. Showing them how to care for their most basic need of nutrition from an early age sets them up for success down the line. It ensures your kid won’t be the college student that doesn’t know how to make a scrambled egg or boil pasta without setting off the smoke alarm. Do they need to be master chefs by the time they’re ready to leave the nest? No, but there will come a day when they need to fend for themselves food-wise, so why not give them plenty of practice beforehand?
2. Cooking is a fun way to occupy your kiddos attention. Kids love this hands-on, get-your-hands-dirty activity! If you’re trying to reduce screentime, avoid the constant “I’m bored!” mumbles, or just wanting to create some natural family time, cooking can be a great way to do that! When they are young, this definitely won’t be an independent activity, unless you really love cleaning and making visits to your local ER… It does require supervision, so make sure YOU are in the right mood and mindset to do this too! I.E., maybe not when you’re rushing to make a side dish for your Thanksgiving gathering. An overstimulated, stressed parent is probably not going to enjoy this activity in any capacity.
3. Kids learn by doing. Cooking with your child is a great way to model useful skills that they can then imitate in real time. They may need a couple “cracks” at adding eggs to batter (sorry, that was a bad one, ha!), but they will get immediate feedback on their success and get to try it again!
4. Cooking with you can help build their sense of independence. The majority of the time, kids don’t get to have much say in what goes on in their day. This can be frustrating for them, especially if they’re a toddler with a newfound sense of independence. Allowing your child to have control over some things can help alleviate some of these battles with your littles. This includes things like letting them decide what they want for breakfast and help make it, dress themselves, pick out their snack, pick the car music, etc.
5. ALL THE SENSORY! You’ve probably heard buzz words like “sensory bins” or “sensory input” floating around lately. The main idea behind them? Letting kids explore the world around them using all their wonderful different senses. Cooking is a great way to get their touch, taste, and smell senses going! Plus, it’s fun to be messy sometimes 🙂
6. Being a part of the food preparation can help encourage kids to eat what they made and try new things. If you’ve ever spent some time on the roller coaster that is toddler eating, you know that getting them to try something new or something that wasn’t their idea to have, can be a daunting task. By allowing them to be a part of the cooking process, you help them see exactly what is in the food they’re being asked to eat and they feel a sense of pride once it is done!
7. Cooking creates natural problem solving opportunities and teaches persistence. Spilled batter on the counter? How can we fix it? Got an egg shell in the bowl? What can we use to fish it out? It can also teach the value of persistence. Making various foods requires a handful of different skills to be successful. Many of these skills will be new to your kiddo and therefore require a bit of persistence to get right. The episode of Bluey where Bingo attempts to help mom make dad an omelet emulates this idea perfectly! She gets frustrated with her lack of cooking skills at first, but with practice, she learns to perfect them!
So yes, cooking with kids is messy, a bit overstimulating, and can be a loooong process. But when you have the extra time and willpower, give it a try! Who knows, someday they may ask to make their own pancakes and you’ll get to enjoy that cup of coffee, unperturbed. Victory!! ;p
Here are some of my family’s favorite, kid-friendly recipes:
Other recipe ideas? Successes or epic fails to share? Comment below!