How to Teach Kids While Cooking
Posted: Sunday, February 07, 2010
by Harv Kay
Teaching Kids While Cooking
Cooking is a wonderful tool to teach kids all kinds of things. Cooking is an extremely versatile and practical method to get children to understand serious subjects or just simple everyday and life basics. The whole process of preparing food from the planning stage right up to finishing up with the dishes has enormous benefits for kids of all ages. Math, geography, history, nutrition, cleanliness, confidence, self esteem, imagination, thinking process, budgeting and finance and so much more comes through cooking and greatly complements formal teaching or the books. It is perhaps a particularly lovely method for homeschooling children.
Here is the Shopping LIst for a simple pancakes recipe. This is show how a serving pancakes teaches kids everything from math to geography and getting breakfast on the tablle. And parents don't need much preparation. All they need to do is allow the children to do the activity, speak to them as they are mixing and stiring and frying(depending on their age).
Shopping List
1 cup self raising flour
(self raising flour is better than plain flour because of its enhancing structure)
1 cup milk
(for kids, please use fresh milk or full cream. Low fat milk is simply not encouraged for kids because of the low fat content)
1 egg
A little sugar and salt
Not too much. Only enough to give a taste.
Blend everything together. Have your kids know what’s little or a lot
Place some oil in a pan and fry the pancakes a little at a time
You can help your kids. Becareful of the fire. Teach kids about fire and how something that was raw gets cooked with fire.
Serve as is or with butter and honey or marmalade or fruit, or anything that the kids or adults like
This recipes makes about 5 to 7 pancakes depending of each pancake.
2. What do Parents Teach with Pancakes
There are only about 3 or 4 ingridients and the cooking process is simple. Parents can refer to this checklist to give them some ideas.
Flour
1. What is flour
2. What is flour’s texture
3. What is flour made of
4. Numbers – 1 cup
Milk
1. Where does milk come from?
2. Fresh milk vs low fat milk - what do you they mean
3. What are the properties of milk?
4. Why is milk good for you
Eggs
1. What;s the yolk and the white.
2. Where do eggs come from
3. Why do eggs have the yellow and the white
4. What happens if you boil eggs
5. Where do chicks come from
Math
Notice that everything comes in 1.
Easy to remember and easy for the younger kids.
For older children – this is a simple and great recipe to teach multiplication and division and using common semse to everyday life.
e.g.
1. How much flour, eggs and milk I need if I need to make 10 pancakes
2. What happens if I half the ingridients? (Teaching fractions)
3. What happens if I double or triple the ingridients? (fractions and multiplying)
3. Why take the trouble To Teach Kids While Cooking
The ability to cook is a great asset for our kids. Hear the phrase 'Give a child a fish, he eats for a day, Teach your Child to Fish, he eats forever:
Children are so "teachable" and there exists opportunity for strengthening food-related life skills. And with it they take care of their own nutrition. Cooking give children a boost in confidence, exposure to new and/or healthful foods, and often provide the curiosity and motivation needed to continue cooking. Cooking also promotes togetherness between parents and their children - it creates bonds and memories that cannot be taken away.
It makes the trouble all so worth it.
Cooking with Kids is a wonderful strategy to help children with so many things. Helping them with school lessons, teaching them to be self reliant and the most beautiful part of it, mum/dad and kids create special moments. Cooking a meal does not become a chore but an activity that becomes incredibly fulfilling experience.
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