5 things kids learn from cooking

As a food teacher I know there there is more to learn from cooking than just making something to eat. Being in the kitchen, following recipes, shopping for ingredients and preparing food teaches children so many things. Which is why I love teaching it at school and in my own home. Here are 5 important things kids learn from cooking.

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Organisation

When cooking you need to be organised. You need to know what ingredients you already have and what you need to get. You need to know how much time you’ll have to prepare the food and gather the equipment you’ll need. Get your children involved in all these things, to help them with organisation. Get them to read recipes beforehand, write shopping lists and check ingredients.

Maths

There is so much maths to learnt when cooking. Reading scales, both digital and analogue. Timing things, practicing weights and measures. Converting from grams to kilos. Scaling up and down recipes. Knowing about temperatures. Encourage your children to engage in all these things when cooking with you. Get them to be in charge of reading the scale and setting a timer.

Independance

You may find the idea of your child working independently in the kitchen terrifying. But independence doesn’t mean you have to leave them alone. Get them to pick the menu, or take care of the shopping list. Older children, give them peeling and chopping tasks to do, while you get on with something else. These tasks help them to boost their confidence and be generally more independant.

Problem solving

Don’t have quite the right ingredient? Not got a certain type of equipment? Meringues look a mess? These are all scenarios where good problem solving comes into play. Choosing appropriate substitute ingredients, using a fork instead of a masher, making eton mess which the ugly meringues. Let your children rise to the challenge.

Healthy lifestyle

The temptation to bake cakes and cookies with the kids till the cows come home is strong with many parents cooking with their kids. I am included in there too. But there is also an important role to play when cooking at home in modelling a healthy lifestyle. Encourage your children to eat widely, look at the eatwell plate and make good choices when choosing what to eat.

If you want to get them to understand more about a food, there are some great educational food games which teach healthy eating on the culinary schools website.