Most modern moms do not attract children to help in the kitchen. Spilled flour, dirty children’s hands, vegetables or fruits scattered around the kitchen do not inspire women to culinary feats. “No, no, I’ll do it myself!” – says every second mother and throws the child out of the kitchen. As a result of this approach, the child by adolescence does not know how to cook pasta or fried eggs, but also banal to warm up his own food.
If you are sure in advance that such a result does not suit you, you need to involve the child in cooking literally from the cradle, as soon as yesterday’s slider learns to walk. There are a great many ways to interest a child, all of them depend on the age and personal qualities of the little person.
How to interest a child in the kitchen
Age 1-3 years. You do not need to forbid the child to “help”. If the child is burning with the desire to “do everything like mom”, it is worth sitting him in a high chair, giving kitchen appliances (a whisk, a soup spoon, a spatula for turning) and allowing him to” cook ” next to him. At the same time, you need to praise your achievements and not be particularly upset by scattered cereals, spilled water and other surprises.
Age 4-6 years. During this time period, the child can be entrusted with some “duties” in the kitchen. Such as peeling boiled eggs and vegetables for salad, helping your mother arrange the ingredients on the pizza, rolling out small pieces of dough with a baby rolling pin. Small mistakes will happen one way or another in the kitchen, especially if the child is active, mobile and so eager to help his mother. Do not worry about the mess – at this age, a small person is already able to bring a broom, a dustpan and clean up after themselves. Especially children like to carry on the floor with a wet mop.
Age 7-10 years. Such an “adult” child can be entrusted with serious tasks in the kitchen. Naturally, under my mother’s supervision and strict guidance. At this stage, we learn how to cook an omelet and scrambled eggs, boil vegetables, and mix the ingredients into a salad. If the child especially gets into the taste and wants to expand their culinary horizons, it is worth trying to cook rolls together (children really like to wrap their ingredients in sheets of nori seaweed), design hamburgers, pies or pizza. At this age, the child can already clean up after himself in the kitchen, so there will be no special mess, dirt and destruction after the session of introduction to cooking. But after a few years, you will praise yourself for your foresight, because you will have a personal chef in the kitchen who will be able to meet your mother from work and feed her dinner from the first, second and compote.
As a rule, all of the above methods do not fail. However, to achieve a sustainable result, you can resort to another, non-misfiring method. It is especially suitable for moms who keep up with the times.
A modern way to captivate a child with cooking
Another reliable method to teach your child to cook is the use of modern games and applications that allow you to cook virtually. Boys will be delighted with the idea of “composing” a pizza to their liking, and girls will be squeaking with delight, baking cupcakes with a Hello Kitty cat. In addition, you can virtually cook real Italian pasta, spicy Chinese soup, donuts or strawberry dessert, fry shrimp. Undoubtedly, after trying it out in the virtual world, the child will want to try to knead the dough with his mother in the kitchen or help her with the preparation of ingredients for pizza, even if he has never shown any interest in it.
In the game “Italian Pizza” the little man will be able to compose an intricate recipe and cook a dish on it. It will be understandable for girls and boys, even preschool age.
In the game “Cooking with Sarah”, the child can create 3 dishes at once to choose from. In the application, you can bring to life the most intricate and refined recipes that are prepared and served in the best restaurants. The game is suitable for a child of senior preschool and primary school age.
After a little person has learned how to cook simple and complex dishes, it’s time to grow and build a career: start “Managing a tea restaurant”! You will have to take the order, prepare and deliver the dish to the customer yourself. This will help the child to become more responsible, because if you approach the business without passion and hard work, the restaurant will not have revenue. The application will be understandable to a child of primary school age.