Do you want to spend quality time with your kids and want to make them learn new things at the same time? Kids are nowadays more involved in spending time playing games on the internet or watching videos on youtube, but it is the responsibility of the parents to indulge their kids in activities that make their bonds stronger and make them learn a little bit of independence. One such way of spending quality time with your kids is to make cooking fun by involving them in the process.
Below are a few steps to help you guide on how to involve kids in the process of cooking.
Going to the grocery store with kids-
Taking your kids to the grocery store with you is the first step to making them indulge in cooking with you. Once they’ll be able to identify the ingredients from the grocery store that they have earlier seen in the books they read, they’ll feel more connected to the food. This will also help them understand the value of food as they’ll see people working hard to meet their needs.
Get inspired by recipe books or blogs-
Involving a kid in this process is a great idea as it introduces you and your child to newness. With this, if your kid is at the age of learning then he/she can read out the recipe to you while you make those recipes for them. They’ll even get excited as they’ll witness the pictures from the recipe book coming to life as you make them.
Indulge them in the whole cooking process-
This means indulging your kids in prepping for the kitchen before the cooking starts, then while the cooking is going on and after the cooking is over, indulging them to take part in cleaning up. Handing them tasks that are safer and done under your supervision would keep them interested throughout the task.
Enriching your kid’s taste palette-
Making your kids taste food while you cook with them, in between the process, could make them more accepting of diversified tastes. With this, it will help broaden their taste palette and they’ll be less likely to leave food on their plates as you’ll already be aware of their food habits with the help of this exercise.
Handling out safer tasks to your kids in the kitchen-
You can provide your kids at first with easy and safer yet important tasks such as washing the vegetables and fruits or cutting off butter-like soft ingredients with a plastic knife. This would make your child feel included in the process and make them realize the responsible part of the cooking process while they try out the fruits of their labor.
Stop constantly worrying about how your kid will get things done-
This can’t be stressed enough, let your child be. It is understandable your worry for them while they handle something as tricky as cooking but keeping a constant eye on them would make them feel that you don’t trust them enough. Keep checking on them but not frequently, let them innovate and explore their cooking skills.
Make fast food yet healthy food-
Make or cook things with your kids that they enjoy such as fast food. When you’ll be cooking fast food with them which is their favorite, would make them more interested in the process. You can also make this a lot healthier by replacing refined wheat bread with whole wheat buns. This way the dishes can become a lot healthier and more enjoyable to eat.
Acknowledge their contribution after the meal is prepared-
Now that the cooking is finished, and the meal is prepared, the next step is to acknowledge the efforts and contributions of your child. This is one of the most crucial steps as if your child doesn’t feel appreciated or acknowledged for the work they did, they won’t be willing to participate the next time. Validation for your kids is necessary to some extent but don’t make it a habit of always validating your child on small things as they’ll then start relying on external validation.
Conclusion-
Let your kids have fun, let them enjoy, let them feel like they are included in the cooking process, and most importantly don’t forget that this activity is for you and your child to bond over a skill. Make your cooking more delicious and healthy for your heart with the help of Bansal cooking oil and other edible products. Let your bond be stronger than ever and your taste flavourful as ever.