A few decades a ago, parents and grandparents were cooking with children, sharing family recipes and secret ingredients. Today, this is a lost art in most American households because busy parent don’t have enough time to teach their children basic cooking. Including kids in preparing meals requires extra time and patience, but it is worth the effort because of the numerous benefits.
Learning how to eat healthy
One of the most important benefits of cooking with children is that you can teach them how to eat healthy food that they would normally refuse. However, kids will still snack on chips and cakes, or enjoy a big ice cream. The important thing is what they eat most of the time and later in life, parents being the ones responsible for this. Homemade meals are healthy, nutritious and low in calories.
Preventing obesity
Cooking with children does not only encourage children to eat healthier foods, it also prevents obesity. Kids are more likely to sit down to the dinner table and eat a meal when they helped prepare it. This reduces the number of meals eaten outside home. Moreover, kids aren’t spending time in from of the TV and they are not eating junk food when they are cooking a meal. Involving them in meal planning, food preparation and shopping encourages them to try healthy, low-calorie foods as adults.
Encourages creativity
Cooking is a skill your kids will use for the rest of their lives. Besides teaching them to eat healthy, cooking with children is a constructive activity that encourages creativity. When you prepare the meal, allow the youngsters to add extra ingredients, make decisions and participate as much as possible. Praise them for making something different and when they experiment. Writing by women over 70 brings a new perspective on the activities seniors would like to do with their grandchildren, and you should not be surprised to see that they consider cooking a fun and pleasant thing to do with the little eons.
Teaches about sex roles
In the society of today, both women and men are breadwinners. Because women are starting to work as much as men do, they see each other as equals and divide household chores. Research suggest that an equal partnership in marriage results in a stronger and happier marriage. Cooking with children without regard to gender will teach them about sex roles and that preparing food is not only for girls.
Builds self-esteem and social skills
Taking part and contributing to the adult world provides great satisfaction for children and develops a positive self-confidence. Cooking with children also helps them develop social skills such as problem-solving, communication, teamwork, decision making, peer relations and self-management. As a result, they will gain the ability to initiate and maintain positive social relationships.
