A Sidelined and Ignored Life Skill

 

I’ve always been a mom who would like to make her kids as independent as possible, irrespective of their age. I am glad my mother and my grandma believed in that too and have passed that skill to me.

Independence to me, is not only what you do for your children. It is also about what you have taught them to do for themselves. While we all want our children to excel in sports, music, art, reading, coding etc. the most basic skill which is important for survival, aka “cooking”, easily gets easily dismissed or may be sidelined.

Why do we wait for our kids to turn into adults to teach them kitchen basics? Is there a reason parents scramble to teach their kids the rudimentary culinary skill only when they are leaving home for college (to far and distant lands) or before they are getting married? Why is this skill easily ignored?

 

Kids in the Kitchen

 

It is never too early to get your kids to help out in the kitchen. Of course, this requires time, patience and some extra clean ups, especially when you’re dealing with toddlers. However, the benefits you reap are totally worth it!

My twin girls Naira and Inara are 5 years old. They have been a part of my kitchen from the time they started to sit up on their own. In fact, we started spending more time in the kitchen due to the Covid lock down. Since then, they have gotten even more adventurous in the kitchen. There hasn’t been a day when they are not eager to help me, so far. I can clearly see their time spent in the kitchen has benefitted them tremendously.

 

Independence in the Kitchen

 

We recently visited my Mother-in-law and we had carried avocados with us. I had to step out for a couple of hours on errands, during which time, my girls wanted a smoothie. They were happy to guide my mom-in-law on how their mother makes a smoothie with the right ingredients and how they would like it to be served. The girls knew how chia seeds looked, what other greens can be added to make it more nutritious, how to scoop the avocado and finally how much milk to add. Impressive, don’t you think?!

If my children are independent enough to feed themselves, when and if their mom isn’t around, that would be my success story.

So, in a nutshell, how can this life skill help your child and why is cooking with your kids is a better idea than putting them in front of the screen when you are not sure what to do with them?

 

How Does the Kitchen Experience Help Kids?

 

• Your child will not be dependent on someone to cook for them when they get older and live independent lives.
• They will make healthier choices, which means fewer fast-food meals and more conscious eaters.
• Kids will be adventurous in trying out new cuisines as they learn to experiment with food. It really helps them to develop their taste palette.
• Stirring, measuring, rolling, squeezing, peeling, mashing are just a few skills which will help develop your child’s fine motor skills and hand eye coordination. I know someone who thought playing video games with your child is a great tool for hand eye coordination.
• Once your child learns to read, they can develop a lot of language skills in the kitchen i.e., from learning new words and terms, which adds to their vocabulary. They get to use their math skills while measuring, counting number of spoons or weighing.
• The kitchen is a great place to nurture confidence and creativity, especially in kids with low self-esteem. Children take a lot of pride when they successfully create a dish for their family members.
• It’s a great place for quality family time. A place to talk about family traditions and recipes that has been passed on from generation to generation.
• Lastly, the kitchen is a place to always make memories other than on fancy vacations. We always remember the tastes of our mom’s comfort food, don’t we? How she used to make it and what she used to add etc.

So, with all these tiny elements and benefits why wait for them to leave the house or grow up? Bring the kids to the kitchen and get the ball rolling and enjoy the learning they bring to you.

 

What Can Children Help With? 

 

Younger kids like the preschoolers can watch what you’re doing and help out in small tasks like washing fruits and vegetables, stirring a pancake batter, pouring water, setting the table, tearing lettuce for salad, adding ingredients, or assembling a pizza or a sandwich. The key is to give them a job that maps to their skill sets. 5-10 minutes is all that they need to spend on any kitchen activity.

The simplest things they can make are:

• Peanut butter sandwiches
• Cheese Sandwich
• Fruit Salad
• Fruit smoothies

For safety reasons, you should be in the kitchen with them at all times.

 

Things to do with Grade Schoolers

 

School age kids like first graders have better hand-eye coordination and their fine motor skills are more developed. You can introduce them to kid-friendly plastic knives, I have taught my girls to cut with butter knives. The knives are rigid enough to cut through vegetables and fruits but aren’t as dangerous as sharp kitchen knives. Here are some ideas that school age kids can perform in the kitchen:

• Whisking
• Using the blender with supervision
• Measuring and counting items
• Cracking eggs
• Mixing dry ingredients
• Reading simple recipes
• Unloading groceries
• Chopping softer fruits and veggies
• Rolling a cookie dough or meatballs
• Pounding chicken

It is very important to choose the right time and the right tasks for your child. It is helpful to do a little bit of planning ahead of time, to decide what you would like to prepare together.

 

Safety Tips with Kids:

 

Here are some of the safety tips in the kitchen:

• Preschoolers must learn not to touch hot stoves, electric beaters and hot pans.
• Give frequent reminders of what’s ok to touch and what can hurt them.
• Educate them about what tasks are for adults and what are for kids.
• Establish clear kitchen rules like washing hands, not touching the knives, stove knobs, cleaning the platform and segregating dry and wet garbage.
• Lastly, loosen up a bit as one can’t expect kids to be neat in the kitchen. I know as adults, we struggle with that too occasionally. So, make the experience more enjoyable. It is ok to get messy and have some one-odd cooking disasters too. Be patient, make memories and don’t forget to compliment your little assistant chef.

Do share your thoughts about allowing children to find new adventures and learning experiences in the kitchen.

Check out our Healthy Veggie Parade to persuade your little ones to try out new dishes.

Author Bio:

I am Haseena Hebbar. A resident of Mumbai, now living in Pune. Most days, I survive on bullet-proof coffee and protein shakes, while I run after my twins and keep them sane. I simultaneously mentor lost parents who need to see a little light at the end of the tunnel. I call myself imperfectly perfect. I’m a loving, sharing, inspiring, mentoring, coaching, hopeful, sassy mom and an educator. I’m a big fan of writing, reading, travelling, working out and pretending not to hear my kids squabble. My goal in life has always been to incorporate my passion for helping others while being a mother, a wife, a fitness enthusiast and an educator.  I’ve always wanted to be the person who anyone can come to, for inspiration, encouragement and support.

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