Ever cooked with your little one? If not, you should try this activity. Because there are many benefits that you can get by cooking with your little one. Of course this affects the growth and development. Then, what are the benefits of cooking with children?
Benefits obtained if cooking with children
Providing opportunities to get to know various types of food
Reporting on the MD webpage, Susan Moores, MS RD, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association said that cooking can help children interested in trying new foods. This activity stimulates the baby to explore food using other senses, such as the sense of smell and sense of touch.
No need to cook a complicated menu, simple and fun activities such as kneading the dough, rinsing vegetables, or tearing leaves, could be an option.
Cooking is a subtle way to lure children to try food. You don't need to force children to eat on the dining table. When the child slowly has many experiences with many other senses besides the tongue, he will be more courageous to try to eat it.
Build the basic abilities of the child
By cooking with children, you can practice basic skills such as counting, reading, or measuring. Yes, when cooking there are various activities that can train it all. For example, counting the number of eggs, pouring water until it reaches the 250 ml line, reading the hours for how long the dough is baked.
Not only that, when you involve it to read recipes it can also improve the ability to read it. If the child still cannot read, seeing the recipe can be a place to introduce new vocabulary which can be immediately put into practice.
When you involve children in cooking, they will be encouraged to think actively when doing tasks. Cooking can be a fun and not boring way to learn because you have to sit quietly reading a book on the study desk.
Chat about food and nutrition in children will also be more easily accepted when practicing directly in the kitchen. Children also gradually understand the function of food for their health.
Increase self-confidence
Cooking with children can also increase his confidence. Why? Yes, the article at that age children tend to show off and show their abilities with other people.
If he succeeds in cooking and making a meal with you, certainly pride and confidence will emerge. The food you cook with it will be tasted by all family members, so that pride will emerge.
Don't forget to give praise to him for helping and making a delicious food menu for the whole family. These little things can arouse a child's pride in himself, so he feels more confident with his abilities because he has succeeded in doing something.
The bond with your little one gets stronger
Cooking together gives parents and children time to talk, experience, and think. Cooking will also form a stronger bond between mother and child because the opportunity to communicate is very broad.
According to Ross Bower, MD, a medical director at Weil Cornell Medical Center, communication with children does not start when the child is 17 years old or a teenager, this should start from 3 years, as early as possible.