Cooking With Kids – Getting Ready

by | Jan 30, 2017 | Health Featured

Cooking with kids can be a fun experience for you as well as your toddlers. However, you need to be prepared properly in order for the thing to come off just the way you want. There are many activities that you do along with your little ones and in all those you follow a definite set of instructions in order to make sure the work is successful. The same principle applies over here as well.

Why are the instructions important?

These instructions are important in the sense that without them what can be a fun activity can turn into utter chaos. There are three instructions that need to be followed in this case. First of all, think about the time of the day when you wish to cook; secondly, you need to decide what you wish to cook; and last, but definitely not the least, you should get each and everything that you need in order to cook.

Attention span of kids

This is an important factor as well. For example, in case you have done something with your children before you would know that there are different parts in a day when they are really attentive. There are also various activities that they may be better at compared to others. While it is true that no two children are same, yet there are always some basic rules that you can follow irrespective of how different your kids may be.

So when should you do it?

Basically, when children get up from sleep they are a bit groggy and it is always hard for them to focus. Similarly, when they have eaten they are so full of energy that it becomes hard for them to pay attention to anything as such, especially a task as detailed as cooking. This is why it is always better to start cooking with them when they have woken up after a good sleep and have also done a few activities to warm their bodies up for the task ahead.

What should you cook?

Normally when we adults cook in a group we like to prepare for a huge meal with plenty of chopping, cleaning, and other activities. But it needs to be done on a smaller scale especially with children who have never cooked before. You need to cook something that is easier and preferably can be eaten by them as well. This would give them some incentive and purpose to take part in the work. Ideally, you need to make it a fun activity for them, something that they would do with perhaps greater interest than you. In fact, you can make things better by letting them choose the menu.

There are so many dishes that you can prepare with your kids:

  • Strawberry crackers
  • Milk Poha
  • Russian Eggs/Eggs Mimosa/Stuffed Eggs
  • Dal sprout chaat
  • Milk shakes
  • Shrikhand
  • Lassi or Desi Milk Shakes
  • Bhel
  • Biscuit cakes
  • Fruit and vegetable juices
  • Sandwiches
  • Watermelon and cheese salad
  • Fruit chaat
  • Chatpati churmuri
  • Lotus seeds or Makhane
  • Sweet corn salad

 A blank slate

You can always give your kids a blank slate and ask them to provide their suggestions for the cooking activity. Alternatively, you can give them a few suggestions and ask them to choose their favourite. One suggestion – try and leave out meat. Meat is something that needs to be handled in a different way compared to other food. Your children may not be up to it since they are so young. For more information in this regard you can check out Super Baby Online, one of the top websites in this regard.