Cooking is an essential life skill which can come in handy when children become adults. When they leave the nest for higher studies or jobs, they can rely on their cooking skills to make homemade food instead of eating outside food which can be detrimental to their health in the long run.
Here are some ways to inculcate a habit or love for cooking in your children:
Take Them Shopping
Whenever you go shopping for fruits and vegetables, take your children with you. Let them understand how to select veggies and fruits. Talk to them about different recipes that can be made from a particular vegetable.
Involve Them in Kitchen
Whenever you cook, ask your children to help you in the kitchen. They can peel or cut fruits and veggies, grate cheese, whip cream, measure ingredients or pound spices. This will spark their interest in cooking.
Make Cooking a Fun Event
You can make a rule in the house to experiment with a new recipe every weekend or on holidays. Ask your kids to look up a new food recipe on the internet. It can be a new recipe for something you have never cooked before or a twist to what you already make at home. Tell your family that they need to be active participants in the kitchen and everyone should pitch in.
Buy Them Cookbooks
These days, several interesting cookbooks and storybooks around food with colourful illustrations are available for children. You can buy these for your kids. When they flip through the pages, they will feel inspired to try their hands at cooking.
Watch Cooking Shows and Contests
There is no dearth of cooking shows and contests on television channels and the internet. Watch them with your children to increase their curiosity about cooking.
Share Personal Experiences
Talk to your children about how and when you learned cooking. Share stories about mishaps or some fun anecdotes. This will make your kids realize that anybody can learn to cook.
Don’t Scold for the Mess
It is natural that kids may create a mess in the kitchen at the time of cooking. It would be an extra effort for you to clean but let them do it. You can take their help in cleaning later so that they understand that cleanliness while cooking and afterwards is equally important for hygiene reasons.
You can even consider enrolling your children in kid-friendly cooking classes and letting them explore things on their own.
