Last year during parent teacher night at my sons school, they had some craft stations set up for the parents to do with their kids. The one station was making Chef hats. We made one for Luke and one for myself. Every now and then Luke gets in the mood to do some baking and wear our professional hats. The 3 most popular things that we make are cake, cookies and pancakes. Pancakes are by far his favorite this to eat on the weekend. We often either go out for pancakes after church on Sunday or Luke and I will make pancakes at home while mom is still sleeping in bed. This morning we had gotten out of bed early, watched the YouTube video that we made yesterday (it will be in an upcoming post) and then decided to make some pancakes. Luke went into teh pantry and grabbed the step stool that we have. This lets him reach up to the counter and actually be able to stir the batter and pour the mix into the pan.
Some parents may not agree with letting him use the stove. I look at this as an excellent time to teach about the dangers of the burners. To make pancakes you do not have to have it at an extremely high temperature. I always have Luke put his hand out above the stove and say "Can you feel how hot it is? Remember never ever tough it". I show him the red lights that come on when the burners are hot and how to tell what area each red light stands for. He as actually gained a respect for the stove and I am not scared that he is going to randomly touch it when I am not looking. Today was the first time that I let him actually flip the pancakes over. He was so excited and was filled with pride and self confidence. He was having so much fun that he went and grabbed some of his stuffed animals and sat them at the table. He said "Dad we need to make more pancakes for them. I am their waiter and they both want pancakes".
I don't think that enough parents get their children involved in the kitchen. We live in such a fast food environment. If we don't teach our kids to cook for themselves it will always be easier to grab something quick that someone else had made. There are other great benefits to cooking together. One as I already mentioned is teaching younger kids of kitchen safety. The more that they are aware, the safer they will be. Another is spending quality one on one time with your children. Household chores can be a great time to build on your relationship. When family members are making dinner together we almost always talk about our day or talk about upcoming plans and events. A third great benefit is that it can be a great learning experience. Teaching them to follow baking directions, measuring quantities, setting temperatures, keeping track of baking times. Today we talked about liquids and solids. I love when you can sneak in some teaching when they don't even realize that they are learning. I encourage all steemparents to spend more time cooking together with their children. Who knows, you may even have something delicious to eat afterwards as well!
Darryl (@dadview) resides in Canada. He is a loving husband and father who enjoys spending time with his family no matter the activity. He is an active member of steemparents and teamcanada Check out one of my Recent Blogs
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