6 Reasons Why Involving Children in the Kitchen is Good for Them

Involve Children in Kitchen : It's a gamechanger for their relationship with food. Here in this article we speak to parents who experiment.

Parents want their children to grow up and be independent. Many of us want our kids to know a little bit of everything so they are not lost in the hustle of life. One such exposure is in the kitchen. Not only have chef shows made these interesting, little kids often love to come over and ask their parents on how they can assist in cooking. Arandhana Mohanty says her children was to be her su-chef-kids.

"I have always encouraged my little ones to spend time inside the kitchen, explore the cupboards, knowing about food and vegetables. One way I do this, is take their help to stock my fridge when the new lot of vegetables comes around." Here are other ways to involve them and why:

Exposure to New Foods

This is a good reason why kids must spend time in the kitchen. Exploring new foods, cheese and other items can be empowering for them. It also helps them make new choices and experiment with different tastes. "My children were used to eating regular cheese cubes but when they saw some new kind of cheese in the fridge, they asked me if they could try. They had a bite and loved it," Neha Madan, a parent to two boys.

More Likely to Eat Vegetables

Vegetables and children have always been a complicated relationship. It has a lot to do with the fact that parents often push their kids to eat the greenies but the kids feel under pressure and resist. Now putting them in the kitchen to see lettuces, peas or matar, zucchine, capsicum etc can be great fun to explore and also get them to try them out. You can make stories around the brinjal uncle, you can make stories around two little carrots talking their way.

They become More Aware

Our children read about vegetables and fruits very earlier on in their pre-nursery. Often we buy them puzzles to do which are based on real life things. Many of us take our children to farms to see how things grow. In the same spirit, keep giving your kids new opportunities to see, know and read about new vegetables and different ones. "My son Rajan was so amused that potatoes can be purple. Another day, I showed him gaanth gobi and he was curious why it was called a gobi when it looked like a turnip that was green," Milli Sarkar who has a girl and a boy shares.

Gender Neutrality

Getting both children, boys and girls, or other genders, into the kitchen reminds everybody that kitchen is a place for everyone. Not for girls, not just for boys but for everybody. And that is an important tenet of gender neutral upbringing.

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