3 Tips For Making The Most Of Family Time In The Kitchen

Cooking as a family- the benefits for kids

The thought of letting a toddler or even teenager near sharp knives and hot appliances can be enough to send a shudder through parents everywhere. However, when it comes to cooking as a family, kids reap numerous benefits from this simple task.

Encourages verbal development

Recipes and even food items involve words that children may not have seen before. By exposing them to different words, symbols and concepts, their verbal development soars. Working in a kitchen environment also teaches kids valuable social skills.

Exposure to maths and science at a young age

In children, the default position is to hate maths and science. However, by exposing them to cooking from a young age, kids will have a better grasp of these skills. Sometimes watching an oven turn a mixture into solid food is enough to develop a curiosity for scientific methods.

Family time in the kitchen- the benefits everyone can enjoy

When it comes to cooking with kids, there are benefits for the whole family - mum and dad included! This kind of quality time builds the foundation for a successful parent-child relationship that will last for years to come. Best of all? It makes cooking really fun!

Promotes a healthy family culture

When parents don’t feel like cooking, they order take out. However, by making cooking a family task, kids will be disappointed that they can’t stir and pour. This kind of disappointment will encourage you to cook, creating a healthy food culture for your family.

Forges a lifelong bond

Cooking as a family encourages you to slow down and enjoy the simple moments. Quality time can be spent as you and your kids cut vegetables or boil rice and pasta. These are the moments that will later become great family memories.

3 tips to maximise family time in the kitchen

While cooking as a family may boast a long range of benefits, it won’t always be easy and, more often than not, it will get messy. To make this cooking adventure as beneficial as possible, below are 3 tips to remember when cooking as a family.

Tip 1: Assign age appropriate tasks

The safest way to avoid accidents is to assign age appropriate tasks for your kids. If you want to cook with your toddler, let them help you add dry ingredients to this Golden Spiced Nuggets recipe. When cooking with older kids, let them cut veggies, with supervision and possibly, kid-friendly utensils.

Tip 2: Remember likes and dislikes

There’s no point gathering the family in the kitchen only to cook a meal that one of your kids doesn’t like. This will turn kids off the cooking process altogether. By learning your family’s likes and dislikes, you can cook meals that the whole family will enjoy making and eating.

Tip 3: Make it fun

While cooking is one of life’s required tasks, it can still be made fun. Play some music while you’re in the kitchen. Make a game out of who can clean up their work station the fastest. Little games will keep kids engaged and yearning to be back in the kitchen.

Dad-proof recipes

Sometimes dads don’t get quite enough time to connect with their families. While cooking with kids is a great way to spend quality time together, it might be a challenge for those who don’t often spend time in the kitchen. Quorn has you covered with the below dad-proof recipes!

Recipe 1: Golden spiced nuggets

Made with Quorn’s meat free crispy nuggets, this recipe is easy to make and tasty on the plate. In other words - the perfect recipe for dad to try his hand at! While dad fries the nuggets off, kids can mix together the dry ingredients for the perfect tasting meal!

Recipe 2: Meat free pieces in sweet and sour stir fry

Featuring Quorn’s meat free pieces and an abundance of veggies, this recipe really gets the taste buds firing. As dad gathers together the ingredients, kids can marinate the Quorn pieces and later help plate up this colourful feast.

Recipe 3: Braised noodles

Made with Quorn’s sausages, mushrooms and plenty of veggies, there’s a lot to love about this dish. As Dad prepares the sausages for cooking, kids can prep the vegetables and measure out the various liquids. Don’t forget to leave room for the telling of some dad jokes!

Cooking with kids- the perfect recipe for creating a lifelong bond

Raising children is all about creating experiences to learn from and enjoy. What better way to combine these two activities than cooking as a family? As kids learn to follow a recipe all the way through, bonds between mothers, fathers and their children will also grow.

When choosing the perfect meal to prepare for family cooking night, look no further than Quorn. You bring your best children’s jokes and teen problem solving advice and Quorn will provide recipes and products to help create tasty experiences that you’ll remember forever.