Letting your preschool child help you prepare the family meals and snacks in the kitchen opens up a world of benefits and not just culinary expertise.
Not only it is a wonderful way to spend quality time with your child but it teaches them a myriad of skills they will need to use in their adult life.
Building Basic Skills
Math can be front and center without your child ever realizing they are learning a lesson.
Tasks such as counting and measuring must use math in order to prepare a recipe.
You can also teach first, second, then and next as you construct the feast for the family. Reading a recipe aloud to your child gives them a chance to become skilled at reading new words.
Listening ability can be honed as your child must pay close attention to the directions so as to prepare a successful and delicious dish.
Try It, You Might Like It
Getting kids to try new foods can be harder than finding a needle in a haystack. When you have your child join in meal preparation they will be more likely to try unfamiliar fare as they are a part of the cooking process.
Encourage your child to sample the ingredients and build excitement for trying a dish they helped prepare.
Exploring with the Senses
Using all 5 of the senses in the kitchen will encourage preschool children to become explorers. Listen to the bubbles bursting when water boils, give them a chance to feel the dough as they pound it and comment on the delicious smells that are coming from your kitchen.
Open the door to the oven so your child can see the cake rising and finally tasting the final product.
Jobs in the Kitchen that Will Fit Your Preschooler’s Abilities
An easy dish to begin with is pancakes. There is not much you can do to ruin this breakfast favorite. A job your child can do by themselves is to stir the batter.
You can guide them with the pouring of the batter on the griddle and as they become more adept in the kitchen you can even help them to flip the pancakes.
Give your child the colander and let them tear the lettuce for a green salad. They can run the water over the torn leaves as well. They are great at adding ingredients you ask for and helping to create a pizza with a variety of toppings will have them on top of the world.
