As a parent, you might start to feel like your entire life revolves around getting your kids food each day. So to give yourself more time to accomplish other things, and to teach your kids how to be more independent, it might be time for you to start teaching your little ones some kitchen skills.
To help you know where to start with this, here are three tips for teaching your kids some kitchen skills.
Focus On Cleanliness First
Before you allow your kids to start working with any food in the kitchen, you should first teach them the basics of how to keep things clean when preparing or cooking food. Not only will this help your kitchen stay cleaner, but it will also help you to keep kitchen pests away as well.
According to Sarah Klemm, a contributor to EatRight.org, some of the cleanliness issues that you should first teach your kids include washing their hands correctly before handling or eating any food, how to best keep their hair back and away when preparing food, how to clean off countertops prior to preparing food there, and how to keep from licking their fingers or kitchen utensils while preparing food. With these guidelines in place, your child should be ready to start preparing food that will be clean enough for themselves and others to eat.
Use The Right Terminology
As you teach your child how to cook or work in the kitchen, they’re likely going to come upon terms that they’ve never heard or used before.
Now, while you might be tempted to use simpler terms that might initially be easier for your child to understand, Cheryl Sternman Rule and Catherine Newman, contributors to Parents.com, advise against using the wrong terminology in the kitchen. By speaking to your kids using the right terms in the kitchen, they’ll more quickly be able to learn how to do things like read a recipe, follow cooking instructions, and instruct others on how to do things around the kitchen.
Make Them Responsible For Lunch
Once your child has learned how to do the basics in the kitchen, Hilary Meyer, a contributor to EatingWell.com, recommends that you try giving your child some more responsibility over their own food by making them in charge of preparing lunch for themselves. Especially if your child is taking lunch to school, they won’t be able to prepare anything too complicated, which makes this the perfect meal for getting some good food practice.
If you want your child to do more in the kitchen, consider using the tips mentioned above to help your kids learn some vital kitchen skills while they’re young.
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