Sometimes it’s tricky to get a home prepared meal together, particularly during the week with school, the kids sport, and work commitments taking up the best part of the afternoon and early evening. This combination makes a quick takeaway or a cheeky Uber Eats order an overwhelmingly tempting proposition. While we think it’s super important to give yourself a break from cooking, there is some real value in getting the kids in the kitchen and preparing a meal together as a family as often as you can.
We can imagine what you are thinking, thoughts of spills, cuts and extra stress with the process taking considerably longer than tackling the recipe yourself. Despite this there are some undeniable benefits to getting the kids in the kitchen, we have listed 5 of our favourite reasons to give it a try below:
Getting the little ones in the kitchen makes them more likely to try new (healthy) foods
We have all had our battles with fussy eaters, kids that just refuse to entertain the idea of eating anything green or that is not a chicken nugget. An effective way to overcome this fear of greens from a young age is to get the kids hands on in the kitchen, whether it’s picking herbs from the garden or letting them toss the salad they will be a lot more likely to try something they have had a hand in making.
Cooking is a great way to talk about why our bodies need good food to keep us healthy
Research tells us that inviting kids into the kitchen from a young age and getting them familiar with fresh, healthy ingredients is one of the important things you can do to set them up with healthy habits that will last for life. Getting the kids into the kitchen is a fantastic opportunity to start talking about how fish contains omega 3 that can help make you smart, or how a carrot has vitamin c that will help you see better in school.
Cooking can help us show kids what food is healthy and natural and what is not
Have you ever made or encountered any home recipe that asks you to add guar gum, sodium nitrate or anti caking agent 228? Neither have we. Making things at home helps kids know what should go into food, this being real and natural ingredients that have no chemical sounding names containing numbers, and that sound like they belong in chemistry class not the pantry. Try making some pancakes from scratch, or if you are feeling adventurous some homemade ice cream, next time you are at the grocery store flip the packaging of these items and show them all the added ingredients you didn’t need in your recipe!
Cooking as a family brings everyone closer together
For better or worse, spending some time in the kitchen will help you learn more about each other and give you the opportunity to spend quality time together. For better, you will pick recipes you want to try next time, watch cooking shows and show off to other family and friends the fruits of your new family activity. For worse, you will break some plates, glasses, burn some pancakes, but let’s be real we accepted this before we let the little ones in the kitchen.
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