by Sharon Brook

Created on: March 31, 2009

Cooking can be enjoyable especially when it comes to family and children. Children tend to imbibe the basics of math and science while cooking!

While cooking involves various errands, it is crucial to match them with the age and the aptitude of the children. Cooking may require some chores that grown-ups can maneuver, whereas other simple tasks would not be that complicated for the kids.

It is advisable to survey the procedures and cuisine, beforehand so that it won't be difficult to distribute chores evenly. So much so that the youngest kid gets to bathe vegetables or roll the dough.

One can make family cooking fun and safe by following these simple guidelines:

1. Only adults should have access to knives or similar sharp tools used for dicing, scraping or trimming.

2. Always keep eyes on children working around hot stoves, microwaves and food processors.

3. Adults should manage tasks such as simmering, adjusting stove heat or laying out the grill.

4. Children should be made aware of the practice of healthy cooking. You should commence cooking only after participating members have rinsed their hands thoroughly.

5. Letting children observe the tasks that adults do would help them learn the basics by observation.

6. Make sure that everyone is informed about his or her task beforehand. For instance, if a recipe has onions as an ingredient, make sure that you inform the kids that an adult will have to chop the onions first!

7. Allowing children to help with the measuring of ingredients will help improve their math. Ignore any clutter that they make because it is only after a little exposure that they would learn to be specific.

8. Explaining the process of the ingredients that come together in a recipe, will help them learn the science involved in the rising of the cake when you add the flour or the role of butter in gripping the cookie batter firmly.

9. Allot kids with the tasks of moving the ingredients from containers, shaping the cookies, running batter into doughnut sheets, molding the meatloaf, counting the eggs tenderly, opening the butter or collecting the ingredients.

10. Assign the task of laying the table and organizing fruits and vegetables on caskets, to children.

Moving on with the preparations, you will want them to be coordinated and hygienic. Make sure that you appoint somebody with the cleaning and illustrate the emphasis of hygiene to everyone. If you are using bare hands to handle raw foods such as meat, make sure that you wash your hands every now and then.

Children tend to be messy and may have loads of questions in mind when they are learning. You need to be patient to brief them with worthy teachings.
Cooking is pleasurable, didactic and entertaining when done in a casual and springy atmosphere. Working together with the family is an excellent way to bond so make sure that you create special remembrances and cherish them until eternity.

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