Some children cook well while others never get the chance to cook at home so we thought we’d look at the advantages and disadvantages at cooking with children.

Advantages to children cooking:

• they love it – it is fun!
• it is a great thing to do together
• it is a valuable life skill – imagine your 25 year old child living away from home on take away because they can’t cook
• it builds their maths skills (measuring cups, using scales, comparing weights, adjusting recipe sizes, cooking times, etc)
• you can show that maths is useful in real life
• they can practice their reading by reading the recipe for you
• it can spark all sorts of interesting conversations – everyone’s favourites and least favourites, where ingredients come from, how things are grown and processed, the origins of the recipe you’re using, different forms of cooking, use of technology in cooking, different foods and rules in different cultures, nutrition, etc
• they can see a result for their efforts
• you can include a shopping trip as part of the cooking experience – again, there is use of maths, time together and learning a valuable life skill
• they can learn patience waiting for something to bake or set
• they are more likely to try different foods/ingredients if they have been involved in the preparation
• children learn respect and proper use of sharp knives, stoves, ovens, graters, etc
• children can learn some hygiene basics
• you can teach them how to tidy after themselves – and how to do things like wash dishes!

Disadvantages of kids in the kitchen:

• it requires your time and supervision
• it can get messy
• there is potential danger (knives, heat, etc)
• you may need to go shopping for ingredients if you don’t usually have them

but all those disadvantages can be dealt with by changing your perspective – messy may be an inconvenience, but it’s fun and a learning experience so is often a small price to pay!