Cooking with your children

Parents are often searching for fun and educational activities for their children that will also help them to develop important life skills. In addition to supplementary education and social clubs, many parents find it both fun and beneficial to involve their children in the preparation and cooking of family meals.

Cooking provides opportunities for parents and siblings to spend quality time together whilst mastering a variety of new skills, as well as being a great way to encourage healthy eating habits. Here is an outline of just a few of the benefits of involving children:

• Teaching children to cook will help them to become aware of hazards in the kitchen. By spotting the hazards together and deciding as a family how you can avoid potential accidents, children will internalise these lessons and remember how to stay safe while having fun cooking.
• Cooking helps to develop a child's planning and time management skills. They will be able to clearly see (and taste!) the rewards of keeping to a plan and strict time schedule.
• Cooking requires hands-on use of a variety of maths concepts, including weight and measurement. Even when using a recipe, your child may need to vary the volumes depending on how many people will be enjoying their culinary delights.
• Following a recipe also gives children a meaningful reading comprehension exercise.
• Whilst it is important that children learn to follow instructions, cooking can also nurture a child's creativity and teach them the importance of good presentation.

You could even get your child involved in shopping for ingredients, helping them to develop their budgeting skills and knowledge of where foods come from, as well as how to store foods correctly and plan menus for the week ahead.