Cooking with kids can be fun and a little messy too. However, cooking, baking or any type of meal prep can help our young learners learn and practice basic math and language skills (expressive and receptive langauge skills). Just think with a little prep, planning and patience you can create the right cooking activity for you and your early learner.
Are you ready for a cooking adventure?
Let’s talk about a few benefits of cooking with your young learner:
1. Encourage a love of tasting and trying new foods. What better way to get your child to try a new vegetable you’re introducing? When they prepare meals/snacks they may be more interested in trying the food.
2. Build basic math skills (counting, adding, measuring). Preparing a meal requires gathering ingredients, counting and measuring ingredients. Reading directions and following them is a skill.
3. Explore their sense (taste, touch, smell, sight, listening). Children will use most, if not all of there senses when participating in a cooking activity.
4. Confidence booster! A child’s confidence is boosted everytime they complete a project or activity that takes some time. With cooking, not only do they prepare the food but they get to taste their hard work in the end. Now that’s a proud moment for any young learner.
Preschoolers can stir, mix, add ingredients, pour ingredients or read directions. Start small and simple. You can create short cooking projects with simple steps and then slowly increase and challenge your young learner as their skills strengthen and grow.
The best part of it all is that you get to spend quality time with your child and you get to observe how they react to the activity. Please don’t forget to have fun!
~Monica J~
Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions are my own. I advocate for children everyday. My purpose in life is to enhance the lives of children world-wide.