“When families work as a team in the kitchen, children are more likely to develop cooking skills and life long healthy eating habits.” - Margarett Best, Minister of Health Promotion and Sport in Ontario.
Many of my snack ideas suggest ways to get your kids involved in the preparation. You may be wondering why it is so important to involve your kids in snack and meal prep. Here are some of the many reasons why:
- Involving your kids with food prep teaches them basic cooking skills that will last a lifetime. You can teach them how to measure, mix, blend, chop and stir properly.
- Making snacks and meals together is also a great way to bond with them since it is a fun social activity.
- Giving your kids their own task to complete will help them develop confidence and independence.
- It is a great way to encourage teamwork since each family member will add his or her own contribution to the snack or meal.
- Getting kids in the kitchen enhances their creativity because they can arrange their snacks the way they want. There are many fun snacks outlined in my blog that give kids the creativity to make their own snacks using their own ideas.
- Involving kids in food prep can be a fun way to teach them about the importance of eating healthy. You can explain to your kids that eating healthy foods like fruits and vegetables can make them grow big and strong – this was always motivation for me to eat healthy foods as a kid!
- You can also teach your kids about food safety and the importance of using appliances and utensils carefully.
As you can see, kids can learn a lot about food by helping you make their snacks and meals and it is a perfect way to spend quality time together as a family.
Ask your mini-chefs to help you make their next snack or meal!
Tip: If you have questions about feeding kids nutritious and delicious meals or other healthy eating tips, speak to a Registered Dietitian at EatRight Ontario. Call toll-free 1-877-510-510-2 or email your question at www.ontario.ca/eatright.
Quotation from: http://www.eatrightontario.ca/en/Articles/Nutrition-Month/Get-your-kids-in-the-kitchen-and-Celebrate-food%E2%80%A6fr.aspx
Photo credit:http://www.loveatfirstbite.net/cooking_classes.html
Photo credit:http://www.loveatfirstbite.net/cooking_classes.html
1 comments:
I really liked this post. I definitely agree with:
Giving your kids their own task to complete will help them develop confidence and independence.
I think when kids are helping in the kitchen and cooking the food they're about to eat, it is a good strategy to get them to eat those foods. If they know they made it, they're more likely to eat it.
Post a Comment