At age five, my son
plays a more active role. He helps me make salad and
mix dough for cookies, among other things. At my last
party, he helped make fruit kebabs. If nothing else,
I’ll put him on the task of cleaning the dhaniya
(coriander or cilantro). His involvement makes him
feel important.
Before You Begin
Before allowing your child to play in the kitchen,
however, make sure you make your kitchen as child-safe
as you can. I have plastic utensils and spatulas for
my son to use. I also make sure he is as far away
from the stove as possible.
Recently, I bought my little chef a cutting mat made
especially for kids. My neighborhood dollar store
was a fantastic resource where I found a lot of cooking
supplies for kids. If all else fails, www.growingkids.com
is a well-stocked online store with all the supplies
you may need.
Advantages of Cooking With
Children
I have found that cooking with your child can be very
beneficial. Cooking helps children develop healthy
eating habits. When my son and I cook together, I
treat this time as a teaching opportunity and tell
him about nutrition, such as the benefits of eating
carrots and how broccoli is packed with nutrients.
It also gives children a sense of pride at achieving
something grown-up and encourages them to be more
independent. Additionally, cooking is a great substitute
for time spent watching television and playing video
games.
When a child helps cook a dish, there
is more of a chance he or she will try it. As a result,
cooking will help expand your child’s palate
beyond macaroni and cheese and pizza. Broccoli, seafood
and chicken tikka are some of the foods now
on my son’s list of favorites. He is also more
receptive to trying new foods because he realizes
the experience is not as bad as he had initially imagined
it to be.
Cooking also leads children to a deeper understanding
of the world around them. Once your child learns about
local foods, you can introduce him or her to foods
eaten by people in other parts of the world. I recommend
picking up What the World Eats by Faith D’Aluisio
at your local library. My son has learned about food
staples in countries such as Japan and India.
Incorporating Cooking Into
Children’s Lives
Cooking is a great activity for play-dates and birthdays.
Recently, I invited a few of my son’s friends
to a pizza play-date, where the bunch of them made
their own pizzas. All I did was buy some pizza dough
in a personal-pan size as well as pizza sauce and
several different toppings. It was “the best
play-date ever!” (in my son’s words).
A short time ago, a friend hosted her daughter’s
birthday at Young Chef’s Academy, a cooking
school for kids with locations across the U.S. The
kids had a great time, and it was a unique experience
for us all.
Resources for Child Chefs
If you are still unsure about cooking with your child,
there are many resources available to help you get
started. One website I love and keep going back to
is Williams-Sonoma. It is full of tips and techniques
to make your experience all the more enjoyable. Another
one to try is Martha Stewart’s. I love this
website for its cute presentations and delicious recipes.
Your local library is also a great
resource for books on kid-friendly recipes. I’d
recommend looking for Big Snacks, Little Meals
by Rose Dunnington. It begins with a definition of
terms and techniques used when cooking. This is especially
helpful for older kids who want to cook on their own.
It has great recipes for quick snacks and meals your
kids will enjoy. The potato volcano recipe could not
have come about at a more appropriate time—we
had been reading about volcanoes—and it was
a great way to get my son to eat potatoes in a form
other than french fries!
Barnes and Noble also has books geared
towards young chefs and they carry Indian cuisine
cookbooks for children. Check out Chaat &
Sweets by Amy Wilson Sanger—I am excited
at the prospect of making these Desi snacks with my
son.
So whether you love cooking or not,
it is a fun activity to try with your children and
a great opportunity to expand their horizons in everything
from nutrition to the world around them.
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