Cooking with little ones can be quite a daunting task. Surely, hot stoves, sharp knives, and raw ingredients can be a recipe for disaster!
But did you know that there are many benefits to including your children in the household cooking? Before you know it, you may just have a preteen cooking a meal for you. No assistance needed!
What are some reasons you should get your little ones involved, anyway?
Quality Time
As a busy parent, it can be difficult to get everything done in a day and still make time to bond with your babies.
While including small children in the dinner making process may require a little extra time and a whole lot of patience, it can be a great opportunity to get some "mommy or daddy-and-me" time in.
Luckily, clean up can be made a whole lot easier with our parchment paper. Bye-bye scrubbing!
Confidence
Building confidence and self-esteem is so important in adolescence. Being able to do difficult tasks in the kitchen and help out in a real way is a great way to bring about a sense of accomplishment for your little one.
After all, learning new skills is one of the best ways to build confidence in children.
Learning life skills
Speaking of learning new skills, cooking is one of the essentials to basic living.
Whether early on or later in life, at some point your child will have to cook for themselves, so why not start them young?
While the task may seem daunting when you know it's sure to come with some mess and potential tantrums, it will only get easier and become more and more beneficial as time goes on.
Understanding of Nutrition
Cooking with real ingredients and having your children involved can be the perfect excuse to talk to your children about the importance of healthy food choices and a balanced diet.
When a little one can see what goes into their favorite dish, even if it might be a veggie or two, they’re bound to have a better understanding of the why and how and in turn, be more receptive to eating it.
That’s where our final reason comes in.
They’ll Actually Eat!
Studies show that children involved in the cooking process are more likely to actually eat what they cook.
On top of their newfound confidence and understanding of balanced eating will likely come a more mature palette. Cooking real meals means a willingness to eat more than just chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese.
Conclusion
96 percent of parents in the U.S. feel it is important that their children know how to cook or bake. However, only 33 percent cook with their children weekly, while 47 percent cook with their children monthly or less. We know how difficult it can be to cook with little ones but the benefits certainly outweigh the negatives.
If you’re looking for easy recipes to cook together, check out our recipe book here for simple meals.
Happy cooking, moms and dads!