While
there are many reasons for teaching kids to cook -- less expensive
than eating out, preserves family heritage, etc, the most
important reason is that by teaching your child to cook, you're
giving him a better chance to be a healthy grown-up. Enabling
your child with the ability to appreciate freshness and to
transform ingredients into tasty foods opens their eyes to
making wiser choices about what to eat.
Cooking
is perfect for children. They enjoy assembling, measuring
and chopping tasks. It offers them an opportunity to be proud
of their accomplishments and to share them with others. Cooking
has activities for all ages. Here are some age appropriate
activities that can you get your started:
Activities
for children 3-6 years old:
Washing fruits and veggies
Cleaning the tables and counters
Rolling things up on a baking sheet
Making shapes with cookie cutters
Activities
for children 6-10 years old:
Reading recipes
Writing the shopping list when told the ingredients
Using measuring cups for dry and liquid ingredients
Stirring ingredients in a bowl
Using a dull knife to spread
Prepping fruits and veggies without a knife (i.e. snapping
beans, husking corn, etc.)
Activities
for 10-13 year olds:
Following steps and preparing simple recipes with little adult
intervention
Using a microwave, oven and stove.
Using a hand grater
Using a knife with supervision
Operating a hand electric mixer
Activities
for teens:
Planning a balanced meal, party menu or special event
Reading a recipe and creating a shopping list
Operating a food processor and blender
Making multiple ingredient recipes without supervision
When you begin to teach your child to cook it is important
to teach appropriate kitchen safety and cleanliness practices.
Introduce new safety and cleanliness concepts as your child
progresses in his or her skill level. You can never review
the basics of safety and cleanliness enough. And most of all
have fun!
About
the authors: Cheryl Tallman and Joan Ahlers are sisters,
the mothers of five children and founders of Fresh Baby, creators
or products such as homemade baby food kits, baby food cookbooks,
baby food and breast milk storage trays, breastfeeding reminders,
and child development diaries (www.FreshBaby.com).
Raised by parents who love fresh foods and entertaining, their
mom, a gourmet cook, ensured that they were well-equipped
with extraordinary skills in the kitchen. Both with long track
records of business success, they decided to combine their
skills in the kitchen with their knowledge of healthy foods
and children to create Fresh Baby. Cheryl and Joan put a modern
twist on the conventional wisdom that when you make it yourself,
you know it's better. Their goal at Fresh Baby is to make
the task of raising a healthy eater a little bit easier for
all parents. Visit them online at www.FreshBaby.com
and subscribe to their Fresh Ideas newsletter to get monthly
ideas, tips and activities for developing your family's healthy
eating habits!
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