Take this opportunity to have some focused time with your kids. You won’t be distracted by chores, work, or even devices. Cooking time is when you get to focus on completing a task together and having fun doing it.
For children of any age, cooking provides learning opportunities. Whether it is learning new words by reading a recipe, learning fractions by measuring ingredients, or simply learning about their own abilities. There is always a chance to learn in the kitchen.
Cooking creates an excellent opportunity to learn about health and healthy foods in a practical way. Involving them in the kitchen at a young age will show your children that cooking at home is just as good as eating out. They will be able to create their own meals when they need to, and not have to rely on the local fish and chip shop to survive! They will develop a lifelong love of food and want to nourish themselves in the right way.
If your child has had a hand in creating the meal then there is a greater chance that they will want to try it. They have seen what has gone into it, and helped create a labour of love. They might even find a new favourite meal, or they might not. The important thing is that they are willing to try.
Cooking a meal can be a scary thing because there are lots of dangers in the kitchen. There is every chance that you could cut yourself with a sharp knife, or maybe you could burn yourself on a hot pan. Conquering those fears and producing a delicious meal will give your children confidence. They realise that they can do it. It may encourage them to cook restaurant quality meals. It also might encourage them to apply that can-do attitude to other areas in their lives.
Your kids will quickly learn that if they don’t follow the directions when they are baking, things can go wrong very quickly. If you don’t follow each step, in the right order, then you won’t get the product you want at the end. This means they have to play by the rules, a valuable life skill.
Baking or cooking is not an instant gratification. Your children will learn that some things are worth waiting for. Come on, what is better than warm chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven?
It is inevitable that you will make a mess when you cook. It is even more inevitable when you are cooking with youngsters. But life can be messy. There is something to be said for jumping feet first into a messy situation. The skill of cleaning up our messes is just as valuable, in the kitchen and in other areas of our lives.
It is rare that you will finish a whole batch of baking by yourselves. Sharing what you have cooked with your family and friends can bring such great joy. Allow your children the wonderful, warm feeling of sharing what they have made. It can be just as good to give, as it is to receive.
So there you have it, cooking with your kids can teach them more than how to feed themselves. There are so many more learning opportunities than what we have listed above, but these ones were our favourites. We definitely think that cooking with your kids is a wonderful – if not messy – experience! Encouraging the skill at a young age might also mean that you get a night off from cooking dinner every so often. I like the sound of that!
]]>What are Food Allergies?
A food allergy is a reaction to a certain type of food that has been eaten. Your child’s immune system will have a bad reaction to the protein in a certain food that would normally be harmless. The immune system will try to fight the reaction by producing antibodies. The reaction would normally occur within a couple of minutes of eating the culprit food.
Some allergies are so severe that the child does not have to eat the particular food before a reaction occurs. They may simply come into contact with it, and a reaction is triggered. Luckily, these more severe cases are rare.
What Causes a Food Allergy?
Food allergies are more common in young children than adults. Your child is more likely to have an allergy if there is a history of them in the family. They are also more likely to occur in children who have conditions like eczema, asthma and hayfever.
There are 8 main food types that cause allergic reactions:
These 8 food types account for around 90% of reactions, with the three most common being milk, eggs and peanuts.
How You Can Tell a Reaction is Happening
If your child has an immediate reaction to a food, then the symptoms are easy to spot. They can include:
The great thing about an immediate reaction, is that it’s easier to know which food caused it. The reaction will likely happen within the first one or two times of trying the food.
Not all reactions are immediate though. And it can be harder to pinpoint which food caused a delayed reaction. For a delayed reaction, different parts of your child’s immune system are affected, so it can take longer for the reaction to happen.
These are some delayed reaction signs to watch out for:
A lot of these symptoms are common in early childhood, so they may not always indicate a food allergy. If you have any concerns, make sure you take your child to see a doctor.
Can Food Allergies Be Prevented?
There is no known research that answers this question definitively.
What you eat during pregnancy, or while breastfeeding is not proven to have any effect on causing or preventing food allergies. Breastfeeding a child for the first 6 months of his or her life is known to pass on the mother’s immunities, so it may help prevent against food allergies. It is recommended that any new foods are introduced one at a time, so if a reaction occurs it is easy to pinpoint the cause.
Depending on what your child is allergic too, they may grow out of their food allergy. But unfortunately, there are no known cures or prevention methods for food allergies.
Food allergies are becoming more common in our children. You will note that many education providers have no-nut policies to help safeguard those with allergies. Because of this increase in reactions to certain foods, it is great to educate yourself with some knowledge on the subject. You never know when you when it might come in handy. If you have any concerns for your loved ones, then get them along to a doctor quickly. It’s better to be safe than sorry!
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Sensory Development: At this early stage, you can’t put your baby in the sandpit, or use finger paints in case they put unwanted things in their mouths. But you can let them smush their banana, smear their pumpkin puree, or squeeze their pasta. Experimenting with their food as they eat it is your baby’s first sensory development. They are learning textures, coordination and so much more, at the same time as playing.
Learning Valuable Skills: Let your little one put their whole hand into their apple sauce. When they put their hand to their mouth, they will realise they can get food off it. This is the pre-cursor to learning to feed themselves with utensils. Sometimes we need to let our kids get a bit mucky while they eat, that way they will learn it is alright to get mucky in other situations. Not exposing them to textures now, may make them fearful of new textures when they are older.
Positivity: Constantly policing your small children on their table manners will make the dinner table a negative experience. This can make your child dislike sitting at the table and may affect their eating habits. Letting them play with the food a little bit keeps the atmosphere positive.
Of course you will reach a stage where you need to begin to teach your children correct table manners and etiquette. But let them enjoy this acceptable messy stage while they can.
To help cope with the mess, you may want to invest in a Waterproof Splat Mat to pop under your little one’s highchair.
Cooking is one of those rare things that we still have to do manually. There are so many opportunities for learning when we cook. Here are some of the areas we learn:
Reading: Most dishes fancier than spaghetti on toast will need a recipe to succeed. Have the kids help read the ingredients list and instructions.
Math: Measuring out the right amount of each ingredient is vital. It’s a great opportunity to discuss measures and fractions.
Science: Mixing ingredients, or performing certain actions can make great scientific processes. Vinegar and baking soda make a wonderful scientific mess, whipping egg whites change the structure of one ingredient and making dough creates a textural kneading experience.
Playing with the food as you create it will make the kids more likely to eat it when it reaches the table.
While this tip does not involve physically playing with food, it is still play at food time. A little bit of play can extend the time that you sit at the table together as a family. Often with our busy lives, we dash in for dinner, scoff the food on our plate and then race off to the next thing. But wouldn’t it be nice to extend the opportunity for family time and interaction.
Use these ideas for a bit of play time at the table:
Play Music: Each family member can take turns picking their favourite music to play at the dinner table. Mum and Dad might choose to play their favourites from when they were young. Kids are always fascinated by the thought of their parents before they were parents. Get your older kids on board with this to get a peek into their lives and their current interests. It may encourage conversation in other areas too.
Talk: Start a tradition where each family member says their favourite thing about the day that has just been. If you are feeling brave, then you can talk about the not so good things that happened in the day too. Take this captured moment to connect and share parts of the day when you weren’t together.
Memory Lane: Each family member takes a turn picking a favourite family memory. Then the other members of the family have to ask questions to try and guess what the memory is. Relive the fun times, the happy times and the times you made each other laugh.
This time at the table is so valuable as a family. It’s a real opportunity to pause everything else that is going on around you, to focus on each other.
As you can see, there are definite benefits to letting your children play with their food. While it is important to let them play, it is also important to teach them correct table manners. The last thing you want is for your teenagers to be throwing food at each other in a restaurant and trying to eat their soup with their hands!
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