Children can start learning to cook as young as three years old, with simple tasks like cutting cookies or kneading dough. As they get older, they can take on more complex tasks like boiling water and making pizza. Cooking can help children develop fine motor skills and organized thinking, and parents should emphasize kitchen and food safety procedures.
Cooking, it seems, went out of style for a while, as people flocked to restaurants for gourmet eats. However, with the rise in popularity of whole foods, organic foods, and specialized diets, cooking at home is becoming more common. Children often love to watch mom or dad cook, so when should a child learn to cook
A child should learn to cook — at least the beginning basics — when he’s old enough to express an interest. This can be as young as three or so. However, even a three-year-old can learn to cook in some way. They love to cut cookies with a cookie cutter or biscuits with a cookie cutter and can even do things like knead cookies into balls or make patties from a prepared mixture.
If peanut butter cookies are on the menu, a three-year-old can press a fork into the cookie dough to flatten it, or she can flatten sugar cookies by pressing the bottom of a glass against them. Kids can also sprinkle colored sugar on cookies and place paper liners in cupcake pans. All of these little chores make a child feel like they are helping, and children improve fine motor skills and learn organized thinking through these tasks.
At four and five years old, a child may be learning how to cook toast in a toaster oven and may be able to stir up frozen juice or powdered soda if he can reach the sink. All of these jobs should of course only be done with parental supervision and the child should be taught that things like the toaster oven can only be turned on if mum or dad is in the kitchen. A six- or seven-year-old can learn to cook things like canned soup and measure out ingredients and make favorite sandwiches that don’t require sharp knives. Cooking is also a great way to introduce fractions or to reinforce fraction lessons in children’s classrooms. Again, it should be emphasized that nothing should be lit in the kitchen without a parent present.
By the time a child turns eight, they can learn to cook small snacks. A favorite for kids is cheese in a sausage. A parent can cut a hot dog sausage lengthwise, without cutting it all the way through. The child can then cut chunks of a softer cheese, such as mozzarella, using a serrated table knife and place the cheese inside the sausage. A couple of minutes under the broiler and the snack is ready to eat. An eight-year-old is also able to put a microwaved snack in the microwave and cook it, again under parental supervision.
Nine and ten year olds are ready to cook things like pasta that require boiling water. They may be able to tackle something like canned macaroni and cheese or spaghetti. Kids this age can also try to start doing other simple things, like scrambled eggs, cooking bacon in the microwave, and making pancakes. You can even be trusted to put a frozen pizza or TV dinner in the oven. By the time a child reaches age ten, parents can probably relax and allow the child to make toast and other simple things without being in the kitchen, even though they should be in the house.
As a child grows up, between the ages of 11 and 13, they will want to learn to cook more complicated things. Parents can help by providing more complex things to cook, like a pizza kit. These kits help a child learn how to mix dough and make it rise, as well as how to put a crust on a pan and how to add to pizza. When the pizza that the child has made comes out of the oven, the child always feels a sense of great success. A child this age is also probably ready to learn how to use the electric mixer and make an oven pie, or use a pipe pan and make a mix pie.
Teens will want to learn to cook for their families and friends and should be encouraged to do so. Right now, mom and dad should start sharing family recipes and good cooking techniques. At each stage of the game, parents should emphasize kitchen and food safety procedures. These can also be learned while the child watches the parents cook and asks questions.
Even a child who has little interest in cooking should be taught some basics to carry into adulthood. However, children who want to learn to cook should be given every encouragement to hone this skill. It will serve them well throughout their lives.
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