Cooking with your kids can be an incredible experience. It’s more than just giving your little one something to do – family time in the kitchen is a wonderful opportunity for bonding, learning, and growing.

Getting your kids involved with cooking helps them learn valuable soft skills, like listening, teamwork, and communication, and creates moments that you’ll hold close to your heart forever. You may even spark a new family tradition that your child passes down to their kids one day!

How to Get Kids Involved in the Kitchen

Toddlers are often much more capable than we think. Their natural curiosity might cause them to spill something a few times just to see what happens or rub a new texture on their face to see how it feels… but that’s how young children learn about the world around them.

As caretakers, it’s our job to allow children to be curious, teach them why certain things are right and wrong, and guide them to the correct action. With patience and guidance, your child might be able to fix themselves a snack before you know it! And you can create incredible memories while fixing more complex dishes together.

Here are a few ways to get your little ones involved with cooking:

• Teach the importance of washing their hands before and after cooking.
• Place them on a kitchen step stool with four sides to prevent falling and scoot them up to the counter with you.
• Allow them to wash the fruits and veggies.
• Ask them to tear up greens, break apart broccoli, or snap asparagus.
• Show them how to carefully mix ingredients without splashing or spilling.
• Consider using toddler cooking utensils – these are dull tools that can be used on real food! For example, they can learn safe chopping skills with a child-safe knife and soft foods, like bananas or bread.

IMAGINE EARLY EDUCATION AND CHILDCARE

Here at Imagine, we aim to teach children healthy food habits from the snacks we offer to the skills we cultivate. Contact us today to learn more!