Food and cooking, is probably the most integral part of any house hold. Today with nuclear family set ups, both parents working, there is a dearth of quality time that parents and children get to spend together. Cooking with children may sound a tedious and lengthy process, it sure means extra cleaning activity and longer cooking time, but the pain and effort is worth the results. Cooking with kids instantly brings out many positives rather than negatives:
- Most important more quality and interaction time
- Healthy eating habits
- Children learn new skills and this helps them improve their self-confidence
[box_dark]Increased Quality Time: [/box_dark]It is natural, when the family is together in the kitchen obviously they are talking more. Imagine, one parent cooking, one child studying, one parent watching television along with the other child. All these tasks can be so mundane and boring. On the contrary, together it can be such a fun activity, and the time spend will certainly be good quality.
I[box_dark]nstillation of Healthy Eating Habits: [/box_dark]Well, it goes without saying that children are little monsters when it comes to eating food. But the same kids if are involved in the cooking process might surely want to try out things which they helped you in with cooking. Also, they are more exposed to ingredients, healthy vegetables, meat, and spices and out of curiosity may want to try those, which they normally will not. So does this ring an idea in your mind? It surely does.
[box_dark]New Skills & Self Confidence:[/box_dark] Children involved in preparing meals with their parents learn much faster to derive pleasure from work. Simultaneously, they also learn to apply whatever they read and the concepts learnt in school to real-life situations, how to plan, how to think. They learn life skills, planning menus, shopping for ingredients, preparing nutritious meals and cleaning up after themselves. They become organized very early in life. The experience also brings about a sense of accomplishment and heightened self-esteem in children. Their confidence gets a boost as they are a part of creative contribution to the family.
When something as simple as cooking together can bring in so much joy to our lives and also contribute to the development of our children without much extra efforts, it certainly is a good idea to start the practice as soon as we can.
