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The kitchen can be a place to build children’s confidence, self-esteem and nurture their sense of self-worth. Cooking with the children at our Putney childcare centre gives Educators the opportunity to introduce children to healthy foods and helps them to observe and learn about different foods and how they are combined and cooked together to create healthy, nutritious and tasty meals.
Experimenting in the kitchen
When children help with cooking and meal preparation, they learn different concepts like kneading, mixing, and measuring quantities. Cooking is like a science experiment for children, they get to observe “what happens” when you add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients for example. This allows the children to explore reactions and results which can be fascinating to children. Think about mixing bicarb of soda with soft drink or lemon juice and the fizzing that occurs when the two are combined. This all contributes to their early learning experience and development.
Following a recipe
Following a recipe is a beneficial way for the children to learn how to follow instructions or a process step by step. While they are cooking with us, the children become very engaged and enthusiastic about what they are doing, anticipate the outcome and think about the steps they need to follow in order to successfully cook the meal.
Cooking = Collaboration
Cooking also promotes working together to produce an end result. Cooking promotes sharing and positive interactions between one another. While cooking with a group of children, they can take turns mixing, while one child pours in milk and another adds butter. Even cooking with one child, you can still practice taking turns and sharing which is very enjoyable for yourself and the child.
Trying new food
A huge benefit of cooking with children is that it encourages them to try new foods. Children can be very hesitant during normal mealtimes to try new foods, but when they are the ones who help prepare and cook it, they tend to be keener to taste test something they’ve never tried before or turned away. It’s worth a try!
The whole process of cooking is extremely fun everyone which is the most important thing; having children enjoy themselves while learning along the way. It’s a key part of how our childcare centre approaches your little one’s early learning journey.
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For information regarding our childcare and kindergarten service go to: Story House Early Learning Putney
