Encouraging your child to develop a love of cooking is an excellent way to teach them an important life skill. Being able to cook is a skill that will stay with your child throughout life and will mean you have no worries about their ability to take care of themselves when they leave home or head off to college. As well as being a big benefit in their adult years, developing an interest in cooking is also beneficial during childhood. Not only is cooking an excellent hobby, but it also encourages kids to develop a broader palate and encourages them to try a wider variety of flavors. If you want a way to reduce the chances of your kid becoming a picky eater, nurturing a love of cooking is an excellent way to do this. If you love food and spending time in the kitchen, encouraging your child to do the same is a fantastic way to spend lots of quality time together, indulging in a shared love of food.
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Bake Seasonal Treats
Baking treats that fit the season is an excellent way to get kids enthusiastic about cooking. Exciting seasonal occasions such as the Holidays, Easter and Halloween are the perfect opportunities to whip up some fun seasonal bakes that they will love to bake and love to eat even more. Baking treats such as fluffy pumpkin cinnamon rolls, Easter cookies, and Christmas cakes are all perfect recipes for kids to help you bake and then enjoy eating together. These types of bakes also make excellent treats to gift to family and friends. Your little one will be so proud of themselves when they see other people enjoying the food that they have baked.
Let Them Set the Menu
Letting your child set the menu may sound like a recipe for disaster. But allowing them the freedom to take over the kitchen (under adult supervision) and design their own menu for your evening meal is a perfect way to help build both their confidence and their cookery skills. Kids will love the opportunity to display some culinary creativity. Developing their own menu allows children to open their minds to the many possible ways they can combine flavors and texture to create meals they love.
Allow Their Creativity to Shine
As well as letting your child set their own menu, it is also a good idea to let their creative cookery skills shine in other ways. Allowing them to experiment with different flavors enables kids to develop their palate and get an idea of which flavor combinations work and which definitely don’t. In addition, it is also a great idea to let kids get creative with presentation. Simple tasks such as decorating cupcakes with colored frosting, arranging food on the plate in an artistic way, or even placing the toppings on pizzas in their own style will help encourage them to build their confidence and a love of cooking.
