Cooking with Kids Encourages Artistic Skill

Children show so much pride in their work when they are given control over the finishing touches! This especially applies to the Art of Cooking. There are so many great ways to get creative with color and presentation. I recently discovered this adorable project: Tie Dye Cookies! The kids can help mix the batter but the real fun comes when they get to drop the food coloring in and swirl it around.

Of course, the cookie project is more of a once-in-awhile treat. If you're looking to have the same fun while also encouraging healthy snacking, you can do all sorts of fun activities with cut-up fruits and veggies! Have your child help you select different foods that represent different colors of the rainbow and make a design on their plate. For the avid little reader, I found this creative picnic idea based on Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar:

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There are so many ways to have fun with food while also experimenting artistically! The kitchen does not just have to be a place for parents or teachers.

Edible math lessons!

Incorporating cooking into the preschool curriculum can help children build math skills in a variety of ways.  Most fundamentally, following recipes helps to develop an intuitive understanding of functions and order of operations.  Measuring ingredients teaches children number concepts, and observing changes in volume once ingredients are added together or cut into pieces teaches spatial concepts.

Simple recipes with easy preparations and short cooking times, such as this one for biscuits, are ideal for preschool children.  I recently made these biscuits with Ido, a wonderful 5-year-old, and was amazed by how focused he was throughout the entire process.  

The USDA has a great beginning resource for ideas about nutrition, recipes, and sample lesson plans for cooking with young children.  Bon appetit!