It’s funny and useful to teach kids cooking in classes and also at home.

According to participants in a Swedish study “Food as a tool for learning in everyday activities at preschool” , both children and teachers developed a sensory language. Children became more positive towards tasting and teachers discovered new possibilities for interdisciplinary work.

We identified 5 interesting subjects to discuss while cooking:

Understand where the food is coming from

  • see the ingredients, name and classify them – cereals, fruits, vegetables,  nuts etc.

They say the first step in cooking in baking the bread. See and feel the flour. Show pictures with the wheat. Let them play with the dough. Add water and see what happens. Choose the tray and put it in the oven. Notice how it grows.

You may choose something easier. Such as fruit yogurt. Chop the favorite fruits and mix them with yogurt. And add a spoon of honey. Ask and explain where the ingredients come from. Show pictures.

Or, why not cooking together the vegetable soup for lunch?

  • discuss the growing process – from seed to plant

If there are some fruits in your recipe, show them the seeds. Put it in their hands. Schedule a different time slot for another lesson – planting the seed and growing the new plant. Make sure you’ve got their attention on the subject. Meanwhile, they will certainly ask more questions on the subject. :)

  • explain what part of the plant we serve: root, stem, leaf, fruit etc.

Get all the ingredients and look at them carefully. Ask questions: is this from ground? From the tree? Where is it coming from? Let them guess first.

  • teaching colors, textures, shapes

It’s perfect, especially for younger children. But don’t underestimate this part as they grow. For example, you can cut the ingredients in triangles, circles etc., and teach them the basics of geometry.

Or you can discuss about the different colors of the same plants – such as green nuts, peppers and so on.

  • tasting fresh and cooked food – and notice the differences

Make sure at least part of the ingredients are tasty fresh and cooked and notice the differences.

Learn the basics of food hygiene

Even when the children are very young aged, their part of cooking might be  washing the ingredients properly. This provides us the opportunity to explain why and how the fruits and vegetables should be washed.

Once we have shown them pictures of the vegetables growing in their natural environment, it’s time to discuss the transport from the far away places, and those substances which help them to remain fresh.

See how the mud, the dirt is going away under the water. And understand why we also need to wash those fruits and vegetables which seem to already look clean.

Start up a conversation on healthy foods

Since we talked about transportation, it’s time to also discuss about the local production, the vegetable gardens and the fruit trees they have seen around. And to mention the seasonal fruits and vegetables. It’s a great way to teach them criteria of choosing the fresh food.

Depending on child’s age, we can go further on and explain the difference between eating fresh food, frying, boiling, baking or steam cooking.

Be careful on the tendency to overburden your child from early ages with information on calories and forbidden aliments or drinks. Kids are able to start processing it only later on. Just keep it simple and build healthy habits. Be a role model.

Practice gratitude and respect other people’s work

Even as grown-ups, we tend to forget about the long chain of people and processes which make us live our comfortable lives the way we do.

Food is only an example. But it can provide us the opportunity to teach kids gratitude.

There are people working in agriculture, transports, sales. Other people work on producing necessary devices and cars, and so on. Every one of them deserves our respect. And also every job and every kind of work.

Empower your child & get help in the kitchen

Once you give children tasks to conclude and praise the results, you empower them. Because they understand they can make things happen, that they can change reality the way they want to. And they also develop the necessary skills to do it.

Remove the misconceptions regarding the gender limits. Teach girls to cook and also teach boys. Grow the new balanced generation.

At the beginning, probably you will get a messy place and almost nothing to eat. But as the child grows up, you might get some real help in the kitchen, while having fun together.

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