No matter their age or cooking experience, there are always opportunities to get your children in the kitchen, making cooking and baking a family activity.
Anne-Marie De Beer, nutrition, health and wellness manager at Nestlé’s east and southern Africa division, shares some ideas for easy kitchen activities that will make cooking together a fun experience this festive season.
Start small and encourage play
Make kitchen time fun by encouraging play. Getting comfortable in the kitchen goes beyond watching mom or dad cook, it also involves handling food and cooking utensils. We want our children to feel like the kitchen is their space.
Allowing them to handle ingredients, wash produce, or even simply play with toys within the cooking area creates a connection. Set up a sensory activity such as using measuring cups and spoons to practise scooping and levelling.
You can take this a step further and let them measure basic ingredients such as sugar and flour.
Make up songs for simple tasks and make them fun
Humming a song, putting on your child’s favourite soundtrack, or creating your own cooking jingle can lighten the mood for both of you.
This is helpful when teaching children skills that require patience, such as stirring slowly or taking turns.
Children will learn to love cooking if you relax and have fun with them in the kitchen. Give them an opportunity to experiment, with your guidance, and only step in when it's necessary.
Embrace the mess
Cooking is messy, there is no way to completely avoid it. Children learn so much from exploring. Don’t mind the mess, let them be creative and have fun. Wiping down the counter or washing dishes can be a shared exercise.
Create food art and encourage their imagination
Make healthy eating fun for kids by getting creative at mealtimes. Presenting food in the form of a picture or simple pattern, or decorating the rim of the plate, can make it more exciting and enticing for them.
Animals and faces are always popular, and broccoli and cauliflower make excellent trees! Allow your children to cut carrots and cucumbers with cookie cutters into interesting shapes like hearts, stars, and diamonds. Encourage them to be imaginative in the kitchen.
Give them free rein when decorating their cookies or challenge them to create a fruit-salad rainbow or vegetable animals. Turn it into a contest to see who can come up with the best design. But remember, everyone's a winner as they all get to enjoy a delicious prize.
Roll, roll, roll the dough
Get your preschoolers involved by teaching them about dough. Helping to roll out or knead dough will give their muscles a good workout and they’ll be amazed when they see the results of their labour.
Children tend to eat more of the healthy food on their plates when they help to prepare it. There are lots of tasks that your children can help with.
Washing, grating or mashing are all fun activities for kids. And don’t forget the washing up too.
Have you checked out the latest IOL Food & Drinks digital magazine? Read it here.