Cooking can be a fun way to cure some level of boredom. Also, it has the added benefit of being a handy tool to reinforce what children learn in school and around the home. Here are some tips on how to help make cooking with kids less daunting.
Choose your recipes carefully
If your children are really young then choose something like easy biscuit recipes or a fresh fruit salad. Nothing that takes too long or is too involved. As children get older, they can concentrate for longer and you can move onto more complicated dishes and eventually entire meals.
Plan ahead
Make sure you have all the ingredients before you embark on a session in the kitchen. If you have the time, you can make a whole day out of a cooking activity. Involve your children in choosing a recipe, shopping for the ingredients, making the food and finally eating it. It’s amazing how children are more likely to eat foods that they have been involved in making.
Allow plenty of time
Don’t think you can do anything quickly when you’ve got an under-aged helper in the kitchen. Things tend to take a long time and so don’t squeeze a cooking session in between a toddler group and a doctor’s appointment. You won’t be doing your stress levels any favors.
Expect mess
You’re going to have to expect some mess even with the neatest of children but once you’re in that "messy frame of mind" it’s easier to turn a blind eye to that layer of goo developing on your kitchen flour. You can always have a good clear up later … after you’ve had a cup of tea with one of those delicious, newly-made biscuits.
Unless you have a full change of clothes handy, don’t forget aprons for everyone!
So what animal is a sausage from Mum?
You might take it for granted that eggs are laid by chickens and that sugar, cocoa, rice and flour all come from plants but your children may be amazed to learn just where their food comes from, and how it is produced.
A trip to a local market or better still a farm where you can pick your own fruit and vegetables such as The Orchard, Agrilandia, Little Donkey Organic Farm and De Run Wu (Changping District) will open their eyes to the variety of foods China has to offer.
Sourced from netmums.com
Photo courtesy wwworks (Flickr)
