If you re not a natural cook who has a passion for experimenting with food and you don t go crazy about having the right kitchen utensils and equipment in your kitchen, then cooking is probably something you feel you have to do and if someone else offers to cook for you or you can eat out, you re more than happy to do the latter two options. Because cooking can be a real chore if you re not that fussy about what you eat and how it s cooked. However, if you have children you not only have to do it every day but you also have to think about their well being in terms of what s healthy for them. Have you thought about cooking with your children?
When you think about cooking with children, you would more likely come up with special occasion scenarios where your kids will help you with putting the buttons on the ginger bread men while they try to lick the chocolate sauce like in the movies. But to cook with them every day sounds almost a scary feat. You don t have to do it every day but try once a week and see how many days you and your children can handle.
Okay, granted, the cooking process would take a little longer and depending on how co operative and helpful your children are, it could be frustrating at times. But managed properly, cooking could possibly be a more enjoyable experience for you and a more educational experience for your kids. It s also a way to connect with your children making a mundane chore into a sharing experience.
If you can get your children interested, they d naturally become curious and ask you lots of questions. And if they do, take this cooking experience with them as an opportunity to teach them about which foods are good and healthy and which foods should be used or eaten moderately. The fact that the obesity rate of children are at a high in the United States and other prospering countries is another good reason to make sure your children gets a good head start by explaining to them why it s better to use Extra Virgin olive oil in cooking or eating salad is better than having sugary desserts every night not only sets an example but also gives them the logic behind why you dish out certain types of foods.
Whilst cooking, your children can help you with measuring quantities of various food stuff that you re using and if you can devise a game where your child can help you count solid foods before peeling and asking them to add more or take some away will help them to become more confident at counting. You d be able to entertain the younger children and educate them at the same time. The older children would find measuring liquids in a jug or flour on a scale a little more challenging especially if you ask them to halve the quantity or double it. Even some adults still find that sort of task challenging. Sometimes providing a little incentive, something that they can win can make them ever so excited to go along with the cooking games.
If your games are devised in a way that makes it so that your children gets things right most of time, this encourages them more to participate in the cooking process making it easier for you and making them more confident about speaking up, joining in and build on their arithmetic and creative abilities.
At the end of all the cooking, praise them for what they ve done, show them what their contribution in the cooking process has created. Let them feel as though they were responsible for making dinner for you and your partner which will further help their confidence, build their sense of pride about contributing within the family. And when eating the food, the fact that everyone is enjoying the food they help made really gives them a sense of accomplishing something worthwhile. Of course, you get to feel like you ve been a good mother!
Author Resource:-
Penny Roberts writes articles for various websites. The Little Cookbook is one of them. http://www.thelittlecookbook.com
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