Cooking is an art and one that comes in handy throughout our lives. It is essential to introduce children to the process of cooking as and when they grow up. According to a recent survey, 90% of adults who had some form of exposure to their parents’ cooking, were able to live independently, cook their own meals and adjust well in the society. Cooking with kids also helps to smash the gender boundaries that sometimes get created in the minds of children while growing up. Whether it’s toddlers or teenagers, recipes can be picked accordingly and tried out using simple or professional cooking ingredients and practices. (Pamper your kids with these honey based recipes). Cooking is also hailed by many psychologists as a form of therapy that provides parents a chance to bond with their children and promote healthy eating habits at an earlier stage. (Also Read: 3 Refreshing Milkshakes That Are Perfect For Your Kids)
If you're on the hunt for recipes, try out these easy recipes with your kids. The knowledge about various vegetables, cooking ingredients and cooking practices in different cuisines, helps strengthen a child’s sensitivity to various other cultures’ culinary traditions. When the child is involved in the process of cooking, the child is also more likely to eat what s/he has cooked. In case your child is a fussy eater, this can be a great hack to get them to eat healthy food. Apart from this, recipes that are family traditions can be passed down to children from an early stage. Did you know that many of the age old recipes have a very good nutritional value? The risk of losing old family recipes is getting very real with every new generation turning away from engaging in cooking themselves. We all know of how our grandmothers used to make pickles when we were younger, however, how many of us or our children would know how to ferment a pickle? This can be changed if you involve children in the kitchen from a young age.
Technology has changed family bonds and family structures in this day and age. Spending time with your children cooking gives you a chance to make them spend some time off their gadgets, bonding and having fun. This in turn will sharpen their social skills and help them to blow off some stress in a creative way. Did you know that because of home schooling and the pandemic, many children are showing an increased addiction to blue screens? Cooking also promotes the practice of mindfulness in children. Mindfulness means getting rid of negative or racing thoughts and doing something that requires your full concentration. Cooking helps you to do that in many ways. Measuring out ingredients; following step-by-step instructions; concentrating on smells, touch and taste; and paying attention to what is happening as you knead, mix, stir or chop makes you focus on the task at hand and helps your children become more mindful in their life.
Food brings people together. Celebrations and get-togethers are usually accompanied by food and food can evoke memories of special times and certain people. These memory go on to become core memories for your children and keep them feeling warmth even at later stages of their lives. Do you remember how cooking your mom’s handmade khichdi recipe helped you cope up with stress, even when your mom couldn’t be with you? According to psychologists the feelings and memories that infants associate with food and comfort, get invoked every time they look at that dish later on in life. So cook with your children for you never know what memory you could be forming next!