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Someone's In the Kitchen with Mommy
Cooking with Children
By Donna Smith
Motor skills can also be worked on and improved through simple kitchen tasks. Cutting with a cookie cutter, spreading butter or jelly on a piece of bread and pouring ingredients into a measuring cup or bowl will help them fine-tune their motor skills. Peeling an egg, mashing a potato or shelling peas will help your child practice working with her hands in a controlled way. Children are also great at sorting, dumping and mixing ingredients.
Get creative when cooking with your child. Offer her different garnishes for the dessert and let her go wild! Let her choose the toppings for a homemade pizza and top it anyway she wants to. A smiley face pizza, anyone? Ask her if there's something she could add to a recipe to make it better. Would a little cinnamon be good in this cake? How about adding some raisins or dates? The possibilities are endless when cooking -- let your child know that and have fun with it.
The kitchen is a wonderful place to introduce, or reinforce, safety rules. Show him how to turn the handles of a pot towards to back of the stove so the pot won't be accidentally knocked down. Show him how to use oven mitts to protect his hands. Does your child know the dangers of water and electricity? Teach him! Though some children are not old enough to actually use a knife, they are old enough to start learning about them.
Kids hear, "Wash your hands!" all the tim, but this rule is really important when cooking. Tell him why he must wash his hands before cooking. Teach him the proper way to wash his hands. Explain to him why hair should be pulled back so it does not get into the food he is preparing. Issues such as food poisoning and proper food handling can also be introduced. Don't overwhelm the child, but let him know that keeping himself and the kitchen clean is an important responsibility.
