One of the easiest and most fun ways to spend time with your kids is by working together in the kitchen. You’ve got to eat anyway, so you might as well have some fun with your kids. It’s better than sitting them in front of the TV or Video Game machine and cooking alone, right?

Cooking with your kids is not only a great way to spend quality time, it teaches skills that your children will need later in life. There’s nothing sillier than a college freshman who doesn’t know how to make spaghetti or hard-boil an egg. These are simple life skills that every child should learn and are as important as math and science, without a doubt.

Here are a few ways you can spend time with your children in the kitchen. Each will give you a chance to communicate while teaching your child valuable life skills (and giving you ample photo opportunities).

Age-appropriate Cooking
How to do you incorporate cooking with your kids into your day? Start by finding some age-appropriate children’s cookbooks. If your child is younger than 12, make sure the books have many pictures – and fun names for the recipes. Encourage your children to select the meals that appeal to them.

Older children, can, of course, cook from an adult cookbook, if they’d prefer.
Then, when your child serves the meal, take a picture of the proud look on his or her face. Invite a friend or grandparent over to enjoy the delicious meal and let your child show off her new talents.

Picnic
Another option for encouraging important cooking is to help your child make some sandwiches and eat them outside. Let your children choose the menu and make all the foods.

Some simple sandwich combinations are:
Peanut Butter & Honey & Bananas on Raisin Bread
Cream Cheese & either Turkey or Ham on a Tortilla
Bologna & American Cheese with Potato Chips on White Bread (Don’t even tell me you didn’t love this when you were a kid.)

I’m sure your child will come up with some “interesting” combinations of his own. Have fun with it and enjoy!

Tea Party
Grab the stuffed animals and treat them to a delicious cup of imaginary tea. Allow your child to bake muffins or scones with your help. This is, not only a great way to teach food skills, it’s a wonderful opportunity to reinforce manners. Of course, teddy bears have excellent manners when enjoying tea and they always say “please” and “thank you”.

These are only a few of the countless ways you can enjoy preparing foods with your children. Now, get cooking!

Article Source: http://www.thewahmshack.com/articledirectory/

About The Author:  Nicole Dean is a co-founder of www.kidsactivitycalendar.com -- a resource to help parents teach their kids the alphabet in a fun, positive way.

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