Many parents wonder how to teach a child to cook. In this article, we have provided 9 simple recipes that will help your kid discover cooking. Check it out: a love of cooking can be brought up from an early age.
How to teach a child to cook?
Children 3-5 years old: Playing on the chicken
Looking at how the baby plays in the sandbox, it is difficult to realize that the baby can already cook something. You can get your child interested in the cooking process. After all, the first stage of acquaintance with the kitchen is a game!
Preparing to the game
Remove distracting objects before playing: it will be better if nothing will distract the child from the game. Use large unbreakable dishes.
Plastic plates and bowls will not break if your toddler drops them inadvertently. You can purchase a set of play utensils for children with plastic utensils.
What can you teach your baby?
Names of products and ready meals. You can play grocery shopping or talk about food as you cook it. Get acquainted the child with the products gradually, tell what the dish was made from, which the child liked.
Using a disposable plastic knife, spread butter or jam on bread (remember that a real knife cannot be trusted by a child under 6-7 years old).
Help in the kitchen. Picking lettuce leaves with your hands, rolling out the dough with a rolling pin and shaping it with a glass or molds can even be a 3-year-old toddler.
Creative pursuits. Sculpt figurines from salted dough, decorate gingerbread with patterns from colored glaze. Let your imagination run wild.
Children 5-8 years old: Assistant in the kitchen
At the age of 5, you can already teach a child to make real tea in a teapot. The process should be under your control. Have a tea party with your baby’s favorite treats. Let him become the host of the evening, and this time you be a guest.
Cook together the meals your child enjoys. At 6-7 years old, children are already quite neat and can cut vegetables for salad, soup, roast; help peel potatoes. A child at this age can sculpt pies, he can be asked to turn pancakes in a frying pan.
Teach your little helper how to dish the table. Show how to properly place napkins, cutlery, and dishes.
At what age should a child be allowed to cook their own food?
As practice shows,you may allow your child to cook food from the age of 6. We’ll give you a great example.
For example, Jack Witherspoon is a 12-year-old chef and author of his own cookbook. Jack spent a long time in the hospital with a diagnosis of leukemia. Between the procedures, he preferred to watch not cartoons, but culinary programs. At the age of 6, after returning from the hospital, the boy began helping his parents in the kitchen. Already at the age of 7, the baby was preparing really delicious dishes.
How to teach a child to cook?
Jack’s case disproves the opinion of many adults that it is too early to start cooking for children at 6 years old. However, much depends on the child himself; how neat, punctual and dexterous he is. And, of course, the kid should have a desire to learn how to cook.
Rules to be explained right away
Cooking does not forgive mistakes. To avoid them, explain to your child how to prepare food.
Rule 1. Before cooking, tell an adult about it
If you put a slice of bread in the microwave or oven for 60 minutes, a fire will break out. But a small child does not know this, he just wants to bake it. Make a rule of thumb: When using kitchen appliances, children should always ask adults for permission.
Rule 2. Handle sharp objects and household appliances correctly and carefully
When you allow your child to use the kitchen utensils, you need to be sure that he will not harm himself. If the baby is just starting to use the knife, be sure to control the process, ask him not to rush. When using the stove, teach your child to monitor the dish, not to leave or be distracted by other activities.
Rule 3. Be neat
The chef’s hair should be made as a ponytail and tucked under a headscarf or chef’s hat. Use an apron to avoid staining your clothes. No one will like salted food and marmalade in a soup. It is important to follow the recipe so that you get exactly the dish that is indicated in it. If you put excess food or replace it with others, you can ruin the dish or even get poisoned.
Rule 5. Keep track of the time
Punctuality is one of the main qualities of a cook. It is unpleasant to eat undercooked pasta and boiled potatoes.
Rule 6. Clean up after yourself
The workplace must be clean, the dishes after cooking – washed and laid out in storage areas.
Rules for parents
Show me the way
To make the child understand what needs to be done, show this by your example. For example, toss some of the spaghetti into a colander, then have your toddler do the same with the rest.
When teaching your child how to cook a meal, give him as much leeway as possible. If the child wants to do something on his own, let him do it.
Be patient
Both children and adults rarely get something right at once. Mockery and ridicule are the worst enemies of the learning process, forget about them.
Make sure your child has mastered the recipe!
Before you trust your child to prepare the dish on their own, make sure that he can do it right.