Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines may have their place in the kitchen, but when it comes to family time, sticking to scratch can have advantages. It can take more time or effort, but it is important for children to interact with their food.
It’s beautiful when your kids can see that a meal is greater than the sum of its parts– just like your family.
Ambrosia Food Group gave us 5 more reasons to consider ditching the mix when making food with your kids.
- More time = more bonding.
Recipes can be difficult. They can sometimes be hard to visualize or time exactly right. But what better way to bond as a family than to overcome a challenge?
Pro Parenting Tip: Are you mixing in ingredients one at a time? Are you creating the perfect gourmet sandwich? Start an assembly line and get the whole family involved! All of you will have contributed to the yummy finished product.
2. It is empowering.
Kids live a life of being told what to do and when to do it. Their food options are often dependent on when food is ready– or worse, they rely on the snack drawer full of processed food. Give your kids the ability to turn nothing into something. It is a lesson they can take far beyond the kitchen.
Pro Parenting Tip: It can be difficult, and it may not work with every child, but try making food shopping a treat for your kids. Let them pick out a few vegetables on their own. This way, they will be more inclined to participate in the actual food preparation. They will be able to see something through from start to finish.
3. It makes math fun.
When your child goes to school, they will learn how to add, subtract, multiply and divide. But doing these equations on a worksheet does not highlight real life application. When you prepare recipes at home, your children can double them, cut them in half or use a smaller measuring cup multiple times. If only every math problem had a final solution so yummy and delicious…
Pro Parenting Tip: If you have an ample amount of time and want to challenge your kids, try “losing” your bigger measuring devices like a cup or a tablespoon. Let your kid work through the math in their head.
4. Taste buds can fuel creativity.
School art and music programs are being cut left and right, but part of being a child is having access to creative expression. We all have to eat, so why not make the kitchen a canvas?
Pro Parenting Tip: In reality, you just aren’t going to cook every meal or every baked good from scratch. But that doesn’t mean you should give up on being creative.
Make sure you have ingredients like vanilla extract and cinnamon to add to your sweeter items. For savory creations, let your child add a small amount of fresh herbs and spices. These little tips will help make boxed items seem, well, less boxed.
5. Julia Childs said, “no one is born a great cook, one learns by doing.”
Sometimes we fail. It is human. But in the kitchen, every mistake is a lesson for next time.
*****Super Pro Parenting Tip***** : Sign your child up for an Ambrosia Kid’s Sunday cooking class. It is a social and educational way to jump start your child’s passion for food.
Kid’s Classes run every other Sunday and are available for children aged 6-11 and 12-16. Join us April 10th for our chocolate making classes!
