Siddalee A.

Let Kids Cook

By Siddalee

According to actress Cindy Morgan, “I love spending time with my friends and family. The simplest things in life give me the most pleasure: cooking a good meal, enjoying my friends.” This quote by actress Cindy Morgan applies to everyone not only adults. Children should be able to cook freely. Cooking helps kids become exposed to different foods, it helps them want to eat different foods, and it helps build  necessary skills. To get all this you just need to let children cook.

Cooking helps children become exposed to different foods. According to Julie Negrin, M.S. and M.N. “Exposure to scratch cooking helps kids develop a mature palate and a taste for fresh wholesome ingredients” (2010-2016). In other words, when kids cook with natural ingredients, they will become exposed to different, natural, and wholesome foods and want to eat them.

Don't all parents want their kids to learn and develop necessary life skills. Well…cooking does this. Children develop senses while cooking. They come to know the senses of sight and sound, while working with fresh natural ingredients. Additionally, they start to know types of textures. They learn this when they play or work with the different types of ingredients (Callahan). Since parents want the best for their children, let them cook! They will learn all the necessary life skills that come from cooking.

Don't you hate it when your kid doesn't eat what you make and you need to make something else? Well… if you want your kids to eat something easy, without having to spend all your time cooking, let them make it! When kids cook they are most likely to eat what they make. Did you know when kids cook they feel a sense of ownership (Negrin)? Cooking will also help children eat different foods, you could easily trick them into cooking something way more healthy different and tasty than McDonald's all in the convenience of your own home. If you want your child to eat new and different foods, let them make it.

Some people may say cooking is dangerous and that kids could get hurt. Well there is one simple solution to that even simpler problem, watch them while they cook. When you watch kids cook, you can make sure they don't hurt themselves while you can relax a little, since you won't be the one actually cooking. If you don't let children cook you are taking away multiple life skills that they will need in the future.

Think of cooking and of all the skills like math, reading, and even some geography...when kids aren't able to cook they get deprived of necessary life skills that they also need. Now think of your favorite place to eat without the chefs, or food. It would basically be a place with a bunch of tables and chairs, no food, and that would be honestly sad. In other words let kids cook because not only will they learn the necessary life skills that come with cooking, you get a good meal out of it as well.