Reasons for Kids to Cook

It is important for kids to get in the kitchen and learn to cook. Cooking not only builds confidence and prepares a kid for difficult life situations, but it also teaches them to think on their feet. It also develops the same type of discipline as any form of sports or martial arts. Let's take a look at the top ten reasons for kids to get dirty in the kitchen.

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10 Reasons Why You Should Cook With Your Kids!

Here are 10 benefits of cooking with your children.

1. Learning to cook helps children to learn about nutrition and healthy eating. They are growing up with fast food and junk food at their fingertips, which is part of the reason why child obesity is on the rise! Teaching kids to cook will help instill skills to last them a lifetime.
2. Boost their self esteem. If your child needs a boost of self confidence, (and who doesn't!) cooking in the kitchen will do just that. They are accomplishing a task, learning something important, and contributing to the family.

3. Create family time and bonding. Take time to cook with your children and they will have memories that they can pass on to their families. It may take a longer time to get the meal or snack made but the moments with your children will be priceless. (Just remember to have patience and don't worry about flour on the floor or spilled milk).
4. Kids will be more apt to eat what they make. Perhaps, it is the enthusiasm of creating something themselves, but children will be more likely to eat whatever they had a hand in making.
5. Cooking will help reinforce subjects like science, language, math and creativity while cooking! 
   Visit What do Children Learn While Cooking page for more details.
6. Cooking is a great way to learn life skills. This can be especially helpful when kids are on their own and won't have to rely on fast food and junk food to sustain themselves.
7. Children can help contribute to the family and can feel the importance of helping.
8. Children can learn to work together as a team, whether it is with a parent or with a sibling to get the job done.
9. Cooking teaches kids about planning and making choices.
10. While cooking kids can practice creativity and use their imagination. Kids cooking activities are a great way to express themselves and enjoy their creations.

10 Benefits of Cooking with Kids

1. Builds confidence - Remember when you first learned a new skill? It was great; you felt on top of the world knowing that you could do something all by yourself. Cooking is the same way for kids; it is a giant confidence boost for them.

2. Prepares for life - When life gives you lemons, make chicken piccata. Learning to cook helps kids prepare for other life lessons such as organization and following directions. While learning to cook is not only following recipes, you have to start somewhere.

3. Sparks creativity - What kind of new creations will your kids come up with in the kitchen? Maybe they will develop the new family favorite meal. Between all of the different sights, sounds and flavors, all of the senses become aware in the kitchen. Creativity begins to flourish and the imagination starts to think beyond the typical, ordinary cuisine.

4. Develops discipline - Learning to cook teaches the discipline of following instructions and builds the mind. When a kid is in the kitchen, they become the master of their domain and learn to respect everything around them.

5. Patience - Patience is a soufflé, just ask any chef. If your child needs to work on patience, it is important to get them into the kitchen. All good things come to those who wait. Let them experiment with a cake that is not fully baked or garlic that is not completely roasted, then explain the importance of being patient and show them how the finished product is so much better.

6. Science - If you ever get the chance to watch Alton Brown in action, you will be amazed at the amount of science that goes into cooking. Help your children prepare for school by teaching them what yeast does to dough and why toast cannot ever be turned back into bread.

7. They ask questions - Questions are an integral part of developing a child's mind. Letting them ask questions and then figuring out the answers together will build the base for learning in years to come.

8. Expands palate - Kids with narrow minds develop narrow habits. Letting your child help with the cooking will cause them to expand their palate and try new things. The act of trying new things will help them out later in life when they are trying to figure out who they are and what they want to do.

9. Passes down or builds new traditions - If your family has traditions, the kitchen is a great place to begin to pass them down. Due to the close proximity, there is plenty of time to talk and explain why things are done certain ways. Also, who wouldn't want great-grandma's chocolate cookie recipe?

10. Keeps family history - Explaining why the pineapple upside down cake was made with the pineapple juice due to the sugar rations during the war is a great way to flesh out your family history. So many families in the old days, told stories and built legends in the kitchen, why not try it yourself?

There are many reasons why it is important to get your children in the kitchen. These ten reasons alone should have you grabbing your children and pulling them in close to prepare the family meal. Get out the little blue cup that doubled as your grandma’s measuring cup and begin explaining what things are, why they work and who started these crazy traditions anyway. Not sure where to start? Try this 70 simple kids cooking activities list.

More Help and Resources for How to Teach Cooking

Include these pages in your teaching curriculum.
Kitchen Rules and Safety- the page includes downloads for Kitchen Safety chart and a Food Sanitation Chart.
How to start a business
What do you learn in the kitchen?
Kids Cooking Lessons
Add lessons to your homeschooling
Teaching children or adults with Disabilities
Teaching Life Skills
Getting Kids Interested in the Kitchen
5 cooking tips- Need help getting kids interested in helping in the kitchen?
Stress Free Cooking Tips
6 Ideas to teach beyond the kitchen

Kids Cooking Lesson Plans

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