How to cook with kids to teach healthy eating, life skills

How to cook with kids to teach healthy eating, life skills

By TRACEE M. HERBAUGH, Associated Press

To raise adventurous, self-sufficient and health-conscious eaters, get kids in the kitchen.

It may sound too simple, but those are just a few of the benefits when kids learn to cook. Cooking builds life skills, promotes healthy eating, boosts confidence and strengthens family bonds — all while making mealtime fun.

“It helps to think of it as less of a chore and more of an opportunity to be together as a family,” said Jessica Battilana, staff editor at King Arthur Baking Company, which offers adult and children’s cooking classes.

Danielle McWilliams cooks with her daughters Reese, 7, right, and Remi, 4, at their New Jersey home on Oct. 27, 2021. (Danielle McWilliams via AP)

The food doesn’t need to be fancy, and it doesn’t all have to be homemade.

“The investment parents make early on to encourage their kids to participate in mealtime will pay dividends later, when they’re able to handle kitchen tasks independently,” Battilana said.

Whether your child loves to cook or has never held a knife, it’s not too late to start building these skills.

Some of the rewards:

A sense of accomplishment

If the COVID pandemic taught us anything, it was the importance of knowing how to cook.

During the lockdown, Becca Cooper Leebove, a mom of two in the Denver area, began teaching her children how to do simple tasks in the kitchen. Just 3 and 8 at the time, they began by dumping ingredients into a stand mixer, rolling out dough, or icing a cake.

a pan of gingerbread rolls
This undated photo provided by King Arthur Baking Co. shows a pan of gingerbread rolls. (Rick Holbrook/King Arthur Baking Co. via AP)

Five years later, their skills continue to grow.

“My ultimate goal has always been family time — something to do together that’s engaging, but also important to get them off their phones or iPads,” Leebove said.

“They also love to brag when it’s done and we all eat their masterpiece together,” Leebove said.

They clean up after cooking and know how to set the table. Now that Leebove’s son is 13, he helps chop veggies and sauté meat.

Confidence and real-world skills (like math)

“It can feel special to kids to be included in an adult activity,” said Cristi Donoso, 38, from Alexandria, Virginia. Donoso is a speech therapist and encourages her clients to cook with their kids in age-appropriate ways. She’s also the mother to a 5-year-old, who has been baking with her since toddlerhood.

Source: Paradise Post