How to act in a kitchen and in what order to proceed is an essential part of the learning process, which we sometimes call growing up. Most people who learn to cook and clean for themselves early are far more successful than those who don’t even know how to boil an egg at the age of 25 properly.
If you love to cook and want your children to be the same as you, then you should instill good kitchen etiquette in them while they are very young. Cooking is a skill, and to master it, you need ages of practice and perfection till you can use the skill in an artistic style and curate epic meals.
Benefits of Teaching Children Kitchen Etiquettes
These are some advantages of learning the rules of the kitchen at an early age:
Development of Motor Skills
It is never too early to teach your kids how to develop physical reflexes and build up some muscles to become perfect with practice. Acts like rolling, stirring, and making shapes out of the dough help them feel familiar with the different cooking processes.
Creativity and Imagination
When you allow the children to make decisions in the kitchen with a little nudge in the right direction, it not only helps them with learning new recipes but also allows them to think creatively about what to add to a dish, how an ingredient can affect a dish, and what should they add to save any meal. Things like these enable the children to think with a new perspective.
Sense of Responsibility
One of the best outcomes of letting your kids enter the kitchen and setting up the rules for working in it is to develop a sense of responsibility. As a child works in the kitchen to make food following a recipe to its core, it will teach him how to take on the responsibility to feed himself or his family.
A Great Way To Bond
Cooking together is another way to bond with your child and form a mentor and mentee relationship. Children feel closer to their adult parents when they are allowed to work on the same things as their parents do. Also, praising the little efforts on their end works as a confidence booster. At the same time, if they are doing something wrong, instead of being harsh, you must know that only a soft conversation can help teach them the right way to work.
Increases Appetite, Appreciation, and Acceptance
Parents’ major issue during their children’s growing years is the lost appetite phase. Most kids are picky eaters and only eat what they like, usually junk food. Some are extremely resistant to trying new food, while others have no appetite. If you allow your kids into the kitchen and ensure they befriend every ingredient, you could eliminate all the issues like these.
Instills Teamwork
The best benefit of teaching your kid to participate in hygienic cooking safely has your kid learn how to work in a team. There are some orders they take from you, while some you take from them. While bonding with them and making beautiful memories, they also learn a valuable lesson that will always help them in practical life.
What are the Good Kitchen Etiquettes for Children To learn?
Teaching children requires the adults to have patience and invent innovative techniques to teach safely, and a lot of post-kitchen cleaning is needed. Below is the list of etiquette that one can teach their kids.
- The first rule is always to make your children wash their hands and then touch the things in the kitchen.
- The next thing to teach is the method of covering the head and wearing an apron to prevent hair from falling in the food and protect clothes.
- Do not let children near a gas stove if it is on high heat.
- Teach them to use different knives and cutting boards if they are above 10.
- Tell them to use different utensils and pans and when to use each.
- Always ask them to clean the kitchen counters after they finish cooking.
Wrapping Up
Although there are many benefits to teaching kitchen etiquette, you must be aware that teaching such young minds is difficult. However, a little effort at the right age will reap benefits.
