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Someone's In the Kitchen with Mommy
Cooking with Children
By Donna Smith
"Not now, honey, Mommy's cooking dinner." If I had a dime for every time I said that! Parents are always looking for ways to spend quality time with their kids, yet often overlook one of the best places to do just that -- the kitchen! By getting your kids in the kitchen and cooking with you, you'll not only be spending some quality time together, you'll also be teaching and reinforcing basic skills.
Have your child help you select the recipe, then sit down together and review it. Children should be read to everyday, and it doesn't matter what the reading material is. Point out the ingredients as you read them. Have your child point out letters that are familiar to them or have them try to sound out the words.
After reading over the recipe, ask them to repeat back some, or all, of the ingredients. Ask them what you should do first to start preparing the recipe. This not only helps with their listening skills, but will stimulate conversation between you and your child.
Cooking is also a great way to introduce new things or teach facts about familiar things to your child. Does she know how apples are made into applesauce? What makes a cake rise? Why some foods need to be refrigerated and some don't? The kitchen is a wonderful classroom to introduce all sorts of information to your child!
Preschool-age children are learning about shapes and colors, their five senses, how to count and much, much more. What color is a carrot? How many eggs are in a dozen? If the recipe calls for half a cup of grated cheese, let them fill the cup full so they get an idea of how much is in a half a cup. What shape is an orange? Give them an object and have them smell and feel it with their eyes closed. Can they tell what it is?