Cooking with Kids Teaches Important Lessons - Atascocita
Cooking with Kids Teaches Important Lessons - Atascocita
Published: Apr 13, 2011, 12:00pm
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Cooking is an important life skill that should be taught to every child. It's really not that difficult, they can really start at a very young age. Cooking can teach your children invaluable lessons and you never know they might grow up sooner than you think and take over the kitchen.
Besides learning a life skill that you are 100% sure they will use more than once, cooking teach and give them a variety of good thing that will build their character and confidence in many different ways.
Confidence and Creativity
As it is often said, confidence is the greatest gift you can give your child. When they help you make something and you give them the credit, you can see them feeling proud of their accomplishment and beaming from side to side. This is a big step in confidence because they feel they were able to create something which everyone is enjoying. The sense of accomplishment that 'I did it' is the most important lesson they learn.
Math Skills
Children can be introduced to cooking by reading recipes and learning how to measure flour, shortening, and other dry ingredients into a bowl. This not only teaches them about weights and measures, but also fractions, addition & subtraction which will help them visualize math equations as they get older.
For example asking them how many ounces are in a cup of liquid vs. how many ounces are in a coup of flour, gives them a better knowledge of the importance of volume weight. Cooking will help them practice their math skills without having to sit and work on a desk with paper and pens. They will also realize the practical aspect of math and may begin to put two and two together (literally) and like the subject even more when they can see how it is useful in everyday life.
Nutrition Skills
With childhood obesity levels at scary rates in the United States, cooking together is a great way to teach children some facts and figures about healthy eating and nutrition. Teaching them to make recipes that are flavorful and healthier than the food they can get at any fast food restaurant, will make them open their palate to new ingredients with out the necessity to hide that they are eating their veggies, or any other ingredient as many food manufacturers and some cooking books suggest on their advertising campaigns. Kids are smart and like tasty food, especially if they prepare it from start to finish, teach them how to eat well, not how to get cheated with the food they consume by hiding the ingredients included in each recipe they make.
Equality
Equality in the kitchen is another great lesson you can teach when kids cook. Letting your sons from a young age that they can pitch in too and that the kitchen is not only the woman's domain, you are doing a big favor to is future wife and your next generation. Men who are involved in cooking and cleaning often have more respect for their spouses as they do not underestimate the time and effort it takes to whip up a meal and maintain a home. And we can't forget that most Chefs are men, and they are very good at it.
Why cooking classes?
Cooking is not always easy with children, and there are times when we parents really would rather just do it ourselves. However, by taking the time letting your children have time in the kitchen, you are giving them valuable life skills that can be taken into adulthood. No one should ever have to go hungry for lack of knowing how to follow a simple recipe.
We have observed how many kids are fascinated by the different cooking programs they watch on TV. How they admire the chef and chef's competitions that shown every day of the week, and this is a big trend in the new generations.
We need to go back to basics, when the norm was sitting down on the table with a meal all made at home, and using that time for sharing and communicating with the family, enjoying their company and the food, and on rare occasions we had boxed meals or fast food meals just as a weekend treat or as an exception of the norm, not as our every day diet like most kids do now a days.
This is something that has to be reevaluated; we need let our kids be able to differentiate eating and making a fresh meal vs. the package food or fast food, eating on the run, just because we need to eat to be able to keep going with the fast peace of life.
We want you to let us (Chefs 2b) be your tool to help our younger generations recuperate the value of cooking that we all have lost. This also conveys the love for good and healthier food, sharing a good meal with our family, enjoying the process of combining different flavors and ingredients, preparing great recipes that will make you all proud.
We are convinced that you will love the experience of sharing a cooking class with us.
And if not, just cook with your family at home and enjoy the moment and the food, like in the old days. After all, eating is one of the greatest joys of life, isn't it?
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