Let the kids create in the kitchen! You can't imagine how it is for them!
The involvement of children in the kitchen with cooking and confectionery may appear to many adults as a pleasant activity for children, but without any additional benefits, at least from the pedagogical or psychological point of view. But this is far from true!
Cooking and baking are fun activities for children through which they unconsciously develop many skills. This, of course, requires an adult’s careful supervision and kitchen utensils suitable for their age.
Some of the benefits that children get through these kinds of activities are:
They are developing attention and concentration since they must listen or read the ingredients for the execution of the recipe carefully. The slightest mistake can be fatal to the result!
Improvement of fine motor skills since they must skillfully use the necessary utensils.
They are developing imagination and creativity since the final result is a part of their character, especially when creating or modifying recipes or even decorating a cake.
Increased self-confidence and self-esteem as they feel capable of creating something from scratch and might get positive feedback.
They develop collaborative and communication skills when asked to prepare something in collaboration with other children. To achieve this, they will have to discuss and decide on the division of tasks during the execution of the recipe as well as the way of sharing and exploiting the final result.
Development of responsibility when after the execution of the recipe, they are asked to clean up what they have soiled so that the kitchen returns to its pre-use state.
Awakening of all senses. When children are inundated with screens, mostly sight is used. In addition to sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell are also involved in cooking and pastry making. This is particularly important since, according to research, the more senses are engaged in the learning process, the more the child will remember.
They are developing mathematical thinking and skills. Through recipes, children come into direct contact with the units of measurement of solid and liquid objects. Also, in modifying a recipe by increasing or decreasing the dosage according to, for example, the number of people who will consume the preparation, they practice problems and operations of fractions, decimals, and ratios.
Effortless inclusion in the children’s diet of foods that are not particularly popular. Children are more likely to consume something they make themselves. Vegetables and fruits, for example, can become children’s favorite snacks if they are involved in creating a variety of preparations containing them.