These days, many people are trying to find different things that they can do with their kids, mostly since some parents may be stuck at home with them due to deciding to do virtual learning this year due to COVID-19. When you feel like you’ve done everything, what’s left to be done? If you haven’t tried it yet, cooking with your kids is a great way to bond with them while also teaching them a valuable life skill that will help them throughout their entire lives, and who knows, maybe you have the next chef Ramsey or Guy Fieri on your hands. So the next question is, what do you cook with them?
Breakfast, Cookies, and Sweets
When starting, testing out easy recipes for them is probably your safest bet, but you’ll want to use an actual recipe to teach them about measuring ingredients. Who says you can’t use math throughout your life? That said, choosing something simple to start with, cookies, or even pre-assembled box sweets like your box fudge brownies are an easy way to test the waters and start their cooking journey. Box recipes like waffles you do not need a lot of additional ingredients and are usually pretty time-efficient. If you want to up this to the next level, try out your grandmother’s chocolate chip cookie recipe. Have them help you by letting them measure out the ingredients, and if you’re comfortable enough, you can even let them take the reigns by reading them off the steps and helping them along the way if they have questions.
Lunches
Another great way to get your kids involved in cooking is by letting them make their lunches. Without them knowing, you can even turn lunchtime into learning time while still giving them a fun break from their studies. If you have younger kiddos, sit them down, make their sandwich, let them be creative if they want cheese, hot dogs, and potato chips on a sandwich allowing them to make up their minds is a great way to teach decision-making skills. If your kids are on the older side of the spectrum, teaching them quick meals they can make on the go is a great way to add on to direction taking skills.
Dinner
Pinterest will always be your friend when you are testing out new recipes. You can find tons of quick and easy dinner ideas with just a few clicks of your mouse, and before you know it, you’re eating something you never thought of trying. This can be great for kids as well. Kids are picky eaters occasionally, and nine times out of ten, they generally know what they like and don’t like. Pick a night out of the week to let them choose a recipe to make for dinner, of course, scale it out depending on their skill level, but this is an excellent opportunity to allow them to explore food.
Don’t be afraid to try new things. Learning to cook can open up a whole new world of possibilities for your child and allow them to have some hands-on experience still while they are stuck learning from home. It’s also an excellent opportunity to have one on one bonding time with them. Remember, they don’t stay little forever.