Cooking With Young Children
By Randi McCreary, eHow Contributor
Updated: August 9, 2009
From a very young age children are fascinated with food. Parents can take advantage of their children's interest for food by letting them become familiar with nutritional value and how food is prepared. By doing this, parents build a solid relationship with their children and are able to set the tone for how they want their children to perceive food.
Safety First
1. Cooking with young children is a great time to review safety and have little ones become familiar with the dynamics of a kitchen. Even in the beginning stages, when the child is just an onlooker, a lot can be learned. Children can learn the importance of cleanliness in the kitchen and how to avoid accidental spills or being near a hot oven or stove. The information that young children receive at home will then easily be transferred into other settings. Having the assurance that your child knows how to be safe even when they are not in your presence is great peace of mind.
Enrichment
2. Cooking can also teach children lessons that are ongoing in their academic environment. Allowing children to measure dry ingredients, estimate how much liquid needs to be used or figure out how large or small certain portions need to be are great reinforcements for mathematics. Similarly, working from a recipe book or creating an original recipe book as a family gets the child reading or writing. If your child is not of an age where they are able to read or write, it is still good practice to familiarize them with different food groups and explains how certain foods compliment others.
Familiar Foods
3. Often, when children turn their heads from certain foods, it could be that they are not familiar with them. If parents are able to introduce colorful vegetables, whole grains and fresh fruit early in a child's development, the child will likely acquire a taste for these types of healthy treats. The parents create the staple for the children. It's important for children to know that they can enjoy broccoli without cheese and fruit can be a great replacement for candy. Ultimately, the best part of cooking with young children is that parents are able to teach them responsibility and independence. A love for food then becomes a love for family.
Since young, our parents never allowed us to watch them cooking, not even stepping into the kitchen because for them, kitchen is the most dangerous place for children. Apart from that, parents think that if children are inside the kitchen when they are preparing meals, children will trouble them and it even messy the whole kitchen. As for today's case, children don't even have the opportunity to step inside the kitchen because they have maid to prepare the meals, what is the use of involving children in preparing meals when parents themselves are not the one preparing it? Maid is the one who do all the cooking and preparing meals and parents always remind the maid never let their child to step into the kitchen. Whenever they step into the kitchen, just shoo them out. For some both working parents, their kitchen is just for displaying it, they never actually use the kitchen because they have the time to cook.
Me myself and Shu Hui also encountered this problem whereby our parents never allowed us to be in the kitchen whether they are cooking or not cooking. So for both of us, we only started to learn how to cook when we are away from our home to further study. It's kinda sad to say that we only know how to cook around 18 years old, started with learning how to cook rice and cook maggi. How we wish that our parent would have allowed us in preparing meals, even just a simple meal or just watching them cook, it would have help us a lot.
We strongly encourage parents to involve their children in preparing meals simple because:
- A fun experience for both parents and the children
- A rewarding experience for children and parents as this facilitates a closer bonding between both the child and the parents
- Help children to become more independent in their later life
You can start off with simple tasks like letting children measuring water or serving cooked dish to the plate or just setting up the dining table. Slowly on, give them bigger tasks like washing rice or mixing the mixture. Children surely will feel that they are part of your cooking and they will enjoy it. Besides. the bonding between you and the child will be wonderful.
So, let your little ones put on the chef's hat and cook!
Here are some recipes for you and your little ones to try out,
Banana and Strawberry Smoothie
Preparation: 15 mins Cooking: 15 mins | |
Serves: 3 serving | |
Suitable for: children aged 1 year and above |
Ingredients
150ml cold water
30g milk that is suitable for your child
15g banana
15g strawberry
Crushed ice
Cooking Method
1) In a blender, mix all ingredients.
2) Blend well and serve immediately.
Tofu & Egg Yolk Vegetable Porridge |
Preparation: 20 mins Cooking: 20 mins | |
Makes: 4 servings | |
Suitable for: children aged 1 year and above |
Ingredients
A | |
500 ml | Water |
50 gm | Tofu |
30 gm | Carrot, minced |
30 gm | Green Peas |
1 | Egg Yolk, boiled & minced |
50 gm | Nestlé CERELAC® Rice Cereal |
1 gm | Milk that is suitable for your child (Recipe uses NESLAC Excella Gold) |
Cooking Method
1. In a saucepan, add water and boiled tofu, carrot and green peas until softened.
2. Then stir in egg yolk, Nestlé CERELAC® Rice Cereal and milk.
3. Serve immediately.
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