Why Children Should Learn To Cook

No one will ever claim that teaching children to cook – no matter their age – will be an easy task, but it is important. After all, cooking is a life skill, and even if you don't enjoy the task very much, it still needs to be done. Yet there are many more reasons to teach your children to cook than this; read on to find out what some of them are.

Family Time

Do you feel you can spend enough time with your children? If they're at school and you're working, maybe you only have limited time together. Perhaps you don't even have that time at all – they might come home and talk to their friends, do homework, or use their devices, and you might go into the kitchen to prepare dinner. Maybe you don't eat together either.

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to spend just a little more time together? If you teach your child to cook, that could be the time you're able to bond. You can teach them a life skills and learn more about them at the same time. It only needs to be around an hour or so a day – perhaps less, depending on what you're cooking – and you can use that time wisely. Make it something you all look forward to.

Confidence Boost

Children's confidence is boosted hugely when they can make a meal and feel they have achieved something. The more they cook, the more confident they will grow, and this will help them in many different areas of life. 

For example, if a child knows they can follow a recipe and work out measurements, their confidence in maths can improve. If they know they've made a delicious soup from scratch, transported it in soup containers, and given it to an unwell loved one, they'll feel confident they can be kind and caring. You can even take some of the soup to work in soup containers to encourage them. If they can make different foods and try new flavours, they'll be more confident when going out to eat and will be happier to expand their palette with different things.

A Creative Outlet

It's good for children (and adults) to be more creative, and sometimes it's hard to know how to let the creativity flow freely. When it comes to cooking, creativity is important. Even if you're following a recipe, there is some leeway to add your own ideas. The more confident a child gets in their cooking abilities, the more they'll experiment with flavours and ingredients creatively, ensuring they can enjoy a useful creative outlet.

It's not just about the cooking, either. There is a skill when it comes to presenting food nicely on a plate; this is another way that children can be creative and enjoy the entire process of making food.

A Life Skill

As we mentioned at the start, being able to cook is an important life skill, and it's good if your children can have that skill before they leave home. In this way, you can be sure they'll be eating healthily when they move away to college or into their own place, and they will be able to grow their skills on their own once they have the basics.