Did you know that you can teach your preschooler basic concepts and skills in the kitchen?
And you can get a little helper at the same time too. 😉
Everyday experiences like cooking are the perfect opportunity for learning. Children can acquire skills such as stirring, measuring, and cutting. They can be taught basic concepts like size, color, and shape. And all this can be accomplished in hands-on, practical ways.
What follows are some skills and concepts you can teach your preschooler in the kitchen followed by some simple examples of how to do so.
One last tip before you begin, do your best to make these cooking lessons enjoyable for your preschooler. Make him feel that he is valued by helping you out. Doing so will make him want to help you more later on.
Teach Your Preschooler These Concepts in the Kitchen
Here are some examples of things you can teach your child while cooking in the kitchen.
- Cleanliness. “We need to wash our hands before cooking.”
- Safety. Discuss good safety practices in the kitchen.
- Color. “What color are the tomatoes?”
- Size. “What size bowl are we using?”
- Shape. What shape is the dish?
- Whole and parts. “The recipe calls for 1 whole block of cream cheese.” or “We need 1/2 stick of butter.”
- Numbers and counting. “The recipe says we need 3 bananas. Let’s count them.”
- Measuring. Your child can help measure out ingredients.
- Pouring. Let your child pour ingredients when it is safe to do so.
- Mixing. Your child can stir the ingredients.
- Cutting. You can let your child cut soft foods like bananas with a butter knife.
- Sequencing. Your child can learn sequencing and important time order words like “first,” “next,” and “last.”
- Time. “It needs to bake for 1 hour.”
- Temperature. “We need to set the oven to 350 degrees.”
- Following Directions. Give your child directions to follow while you cook together.
- Names of Foods. Discuss the names of foods while working in the kitchen with your child.
- Names of Items in the Kitchen. You can increase your child’s vocabulary by teaching her the names of items you use while cooking, i.e. sifter, spatula, rolling pin, etc.
- What Things Are Made of. “We need to use a glass baking pan.” “The spoon is made of wood.”
- Importance of Reading. When your child sees you reading a recipe, it demonstrates the value of literacy to her.
- Cooking Terminology. Your child can learn words like “stir,” “bake,” and “knead” while helping you cook.
When your little one finishes helping you in the kitchen, you might want to give him or her a Raggedy Ann reward card or certificate. They’re free in this Raggedy Ann Resource Pack.
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