Cooking with preschoolers is not only a great way to spend time together, it's also a rich educational experience that encourages critical thinking, teaches concepts essential for math and reading, and lets kids practice their motor skills.
Teaching Vocabulary Words in the Kitchen
When parents cook with a child, kids are exposed to an entirely new set of vocabulary words. Using words like skillet, preheat, teaspoon, defrost, brown, drain, and grate expand a child's mind. Parents should use the correct words for kitchen utensils and cooking terms whenever possible – it will surprise them how fast preschoolers pick up these unfamiliar terms.
Cooking Promotes Preschooler Fine Motor Skills
Cooking involves all sorts of new types of movements that allow preschoolers to experiment with manipulating their muscles and practicing their fine motor skills. Actions like sprinkling cheese, tossing a salad, kneading dough, washing vegetables, dumping out measuring cups, mixing, whisking, and helping grate cheese all involve different complex motions.
Introducing Beginning Science Concepts
Cooking involves all sorts of chemical reactions. Take the opportunity to talk about the "whys" and "hows" behind what happens in the kitchen. Ask lots of questions to get kids thinking critically:
- How do we get cold water to boil?
- How does raw chicken look different from cooked chicken?
- Why do we add baking powder to the biscuits?
- What does yeast do?
Questioning "why" unleashes the budding scientist in a preschooler.
Lessons on Sequencing and Following Directions
By preparing meals with a parent, preschoolers begin to see that the order in which steps are taken is important. They also learn to listen to verbal directions, remember them, and carry them out. Try stretching the child's abilities to follow directions by giving several steps at a time and letting them take the lead.
Teaching Print Awareness and Pre-Reading Skills
Whenever possible, cook using a written recipe (even if it's not really necessary). Parents should read out loud from the recipe, then follow the directions together with their preschooler. Kids learn print awareness, a necessary pre-reading skill. Understanding that written words are connected to real-life actions and things provides a child with the motivation to learn to read.
Acquiring New Math Skills in the Kitchen
For all ages, cooking is one of the best ways to learn math and pre-math skills. For preschoolers, cooking encourages number recognition, counting cupfuls, and basic numerical concepts like "more," "all," and "half." Older kids get practice reading fractions and doing addition.
Improving Reading Comprehension with a Recipe
For older children, cooking together with a recipe has more benefits. Beginning readers might enjoy finding words or letters they recognize in the recipe. Older children can read the ingredients list and gather the items, or read the directions and explain to the parent what to do next.
Cooking together with a preschooler is one of the best educational activities a parent can do. Aside from spending quality time together and giving a child the opportunity to feel proud of themselves for creating something, it teaches math, science, reading, and comprehension skills – all while they're just having fun.
For a fun way to involve kids in making dinner every night, try the restaurant game featured in "Involving Kids in Mealtime Prep."
Jenny Evans - Jenny Evans is a freelance writer and editor specializing in parenting and the family. She is also the Mormonism Topic Editor for ...
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