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| Kare'n' 4 Kids |
| Cooking |
Cooking is an important part of my childcare. When children cook, they have an opportunity to learn about
nutrition, to be creative, and to prepare their own healthy snacks. Cooking teaches a lot of academic skills
too. When children learn to follow picture recipe cards, they develop skills they need to read and write.
Whipping egg whites into meringue and melting cheese under a broiler are lessons in science.
When children cook, we talk a lot about what they are doing and why. They are scientists, observing what
happens to flour when we add water to it and predicting how high we should fill a muffin tin so the batter
doesn’t overflow. When we prepare the special foods of each family, your child learns to appreciate the
cultures of everyone in our class. Perhaps you have some favorite family recipes that you would like to share
with us. Please give them to me at any time.
Cooking is one of the few activities children get to do that is also done by adults. Children pretend to be
grown-ups making meals in their dramatic play. They can read books and sing songs about food. But in
cooking, children can actually behave as grown-ups.
What You Can Do At Home
Since cooking is already a part of your home life, think about involving your child. Including your child may
take extra time, and there may be more of a mess than if you cooked alone, but there are many rewards.
Your child will be learning literacy, math, and science skills just by helping you. In addition, cooking sets the
stage for lifelong healthy eating habits. When children help prepare their meals, they tend to eat better.
Start your child on simple tasks like stirring batter, squeezing lemons, adding spices, or shaping meatballs.
Discuss what you are doing together while cooking. Ask questions like these.
The beauty of cooking with children is that they learn skills and have fun at the same time you are attending
to a household chore. What could be better than that!
Adapted from “The Creative Curriculum” for Preschool” ®
nutrition, to be creative, and to prepare their own healthy snacks. Cooking teaches a lot of academic skills
too. When children learn to follow picture recipe cards, they develop skills they need to read and write.
Whipping egg whites into meringue and melting cheese under a broiler are lessons in science.
When children cook, we talk a lot about what they are doing and why. They are scientists, observing what
happens to flour when we add water to it and predicting how high we should fill a muffin tin so the batter
doesn’t overflow. When we prepare the special foods of each family, your child learns to appreciate the
cultures of everyone in our class. Perhaps you have some favorite family recipes that you would like to share
with us. Please give them to me at any time.
Cooking is one of the few activities children get to do that is also done by adults. Children pretend to be
grown-ups making meals in their dramatic play. They can read books and sing songs about food. But in
cooking, children can actually behave as grown-ups.
What You Can Do At Home
Since cooking is already a part of your home life, think about involving your child. Including your child may
take extra time, and there may be more of a mess than if you cooked alone, but there are many rewards.
Your child will be learning literacy, math, and science skills just by helping you. In addition, cooking sets the
stage for lifelong healthy eating habits. When children help prepare their meals, they tend to eat better.
Start your child on simple tasks like stirring batter, squeezing lemons, adding spices, or shaping meatballs.
Discuss what you are doing together while cooking. Ask questions like these.
- What happened to the butter when we put it in the microwave?
- How should we get the flour into this cup?
- Did we get all the juice out of that lemon? Let’s push down on the lemon together and see what happens?
The beauty of cooking with children is that they learn skills and have fun at the same time you are attending
to a household chore. What could be better than that!
Adapted from “The Creative Curriculum” for Preschool” ®
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