Cooking with your child: 12 tips to follow
Looking for a manual activity to do with your child? Why not cook with him, he will certainly appreciate! For this experience to unfold, we give you some tips!
Think about the recipe with your child
Let him choose the recipe himself! In addition to empowering him, he will be proud of the choice he has made. Of course, it is imperative to guide it. Offer him a choice between 2 or 3 recipes , showing him the pictures of the different dishes, to give him an idea of what he will prepare.
Which recipes to favor?
Which gourmet recipes will you concoct? The choice of dish depends on his desires, his age, but also what you want to transmit. Choose a quick and easy recipe , such as a recipe for a cake you know by heart, easy baked pastries or a pizza recipe.
Go shopping together
When the recipe is chosen, do not hesitate to go shopping with your family. This will allow your child to discover where all these foods come from. You can make him choose vegetables and fruit when you go to the market, he will feel involved and will discover at the same time seasonal products.
Prepare your equipment first
Prepare your equipment before starting. Take out your most beautiful aprons and especially, adapt your utensils(plastic dish, adapted knife , etc.). Do not hesitate to weigh the ingredients of the recipe in advance and put them in separate containers, if your child is young, so that he can use them easily.
Pay attention to timing
Preparing the meal with your child can combine pleasure and duty. Often lacking time, this particular opportunity allows you to spend a real moment of complicity with him. On the other hand, we must not forget that the attention time of a young child is quite limited. It will be imperative to adapt the choice of recipe to the age of your child .
Think about hygiene
Before you start, wash your hands! It's time to remember the rules of hygiene while having fun. It goes without saying that you have to think about it all the way through the activity, especially when you are touching raw foods or when little hands have accidentally found themselves in the back of your mouth.
Let him do some tasks
Empower your child with age-appropriate tasks. Let the younger ones stir, mix and knead a dough . An older child can weigh the ingredients himself, break the eggs and even separate the whites from the yellows! It is important that he feels concerned , if he is only there to look, he will wonder soon what he came to do in this kitchen.
Empower him
It is important to remind your apprentice chef to be careful when cooking. Knives are dangerous, they must be handled with care. Boiling water can do a lot of damage. Take the time to explain the dangers that kitchen equipment can cause . Show him how to use it properly.
Let it smell and touch the food
Learning cooking is also enjoying a sensory moment. Bring new flavors and flavors to your child by making them smell the spice jar or by scraping a vanilla pod in front of them. Let him knead the dough of a pizza, a bread or a cake for him to discover new textures.
Make him discover new words
If your little chef starts reading, take the opportunity to introduce him to the jargon of cooking. Read the recipe first with him, then step by step, to explain the words specific to this discipline. Your child will soon become a real expert!
Develop your creativity
From a certain age, children begin to develop their own artistic sense. Take the opportunity to show him how to decorate a pretty plate or a gourmet dessert. Let his imagination develop. Of course, your expectations must be realistic, you do not become an artist overnight. You can also have fun giving new names to your dishes .
What to avoid
Do not get into a recipe that is too complicated or too long, a 3-4 year old child will concentrate for about 15 minutes, no more. Never force your child to make a recipe that does not make him want to eat , otherwise it may disgust him for life. Leave him his place and value his work, even if you would not have done like him.