Getting kids involved in the kitchen at an early age can serve as a foundation for healthy eating habits and some fond memories. Plus, it’ll give them an idea of some of the Important life skills and basic kitchen etiquette. Whether it’s buying kids safe knives in Australia or teaching them under the right supervision, here are different things parents can do to foster their kid’s interests in kitchen work:
- Have Safe Expectations: Kids have the worst attention span so don’t expect much when starting with them. Like everything they go through, it takes a lot of time and tons of discipline to get them to finally enjoy some light cooking session or other chores. Always start with the basics like bringing napkins, arranging the spoons, turning off the tap in the sink or putting food into lunch boxes. Age is also a crucial thing to keep in mind as there are always certain things a kid can or cannot do at a certain age and proper motor skills only begin to form after a certain period of growth.
- Get Them To Work With Basic Tools: Start with some light stirring or shaking, make them use baby-friendly tools like kids safe knives in Australia and ask them whether they like it or not. However, it’s important to supervise what they do and don’t take eyes off of them even for a minute. Lack of supervision is one of the prevalent causes of child injury, whether that’s in the kitchen or any other part of the house, in Australia. Tools that don’t have sharp edges or don’t weigh much are practically safe but keep the kids away from electronic devices or materials made of glass and ceramics.
- Ask What They Want To Do: Kids aren’t short of creativity and it’s important to stay away from kitchen work for a few minutes and ask what they want to do. Most of the time, the answer might not be even remotely related to kitchen work but it’s a start. Nevertheless, as long as they work with their parents, they’ll be picking up on basic kitchen skills and some important habits.
- Encourage Them When They Try: It’s important to appreciate their efforts and cheer them on whenever they do something, even something as basic as putting a bowl on the table. When parents appreciate the kids’ efforts, that develops a sign that such efforts are most likely to appreciate. On the other hand, whenever they do something wrong, don’t reprimand them. Instead, teach them why it is not right to do such a thing, might be spilling or dropping stuff on the floor, and then teach them the correct way or the right technique. Discipline is important but without appreciative feedback, kids will end up hating the work in the kitchen.
- Do Everything Together: Make a shopping list with them, take the kids out when shopping for groceries, make sure that every opportunity provides some window to learn, set the table together and eat together. Kids love doing stuff with their parents and they’ll be more involved with the things that they do. Here you can find out the best aprons for kids at cheap rate.
As kids grow up working with their parents in the kitchen, the brain picks up on these cues and develops the senses accordingly. Counting skills, naming and identifying fruits and vegetables by colour, shape or smell, improved motor functioning and confidence are among some of the attributes that may benefit positively.