From an
early age I have always involved my children in our daily kitchen duties. By the age of two my children were dumping
the trash, helping to set the table and put things away. As they grow up their responsibilities increase
along with their capabilities. Now they
are learning to cook and boy are we having fun!
For the
past two years or so I have been teaching my girls about nutrition, meal planning
and grocery shopping. We discuss
watching prices and what constitutes a good buy as well as using coupons and
sales fliers to save even more and allow us to stay within our strict budget.
Food
waste is another area we have discussed in relation to the fact that for one
thing it just isn’t okay to be wasteful and secondly that it costs money to
throw away our food. So we learn ways to
be careful and avoid waste as we shop, cook and prepare our meals.
My
girls, just as their brother did, actively participate in the preparation for
shopping as well as the meal preparation itself. What used to be a solitary chore for me on
Sunday mornings with the newspaper as now grown into a family event. I have helpers going through the ads and
coupon circulars and making suggestions.
Meal
planning is a fun family project now too as they offer good suggestions. It is a big help to have their input so it
isn’t always up to me to figure out what to fix all the time. Plus it helps us to stay out of a rut.
We all
enjoy looking for new recipes to try too.
I love it when they find something and want to give it a whirl. They get so excited. Especially, when it turns out delicious and
tasty.
Finally,
I am teaching them how to properly use knives and other kitchen utensils. Gladly, they are my chief cheese
graters. They are also learning to read
recipes and follow directions, measure ingredients and clean up after
themselves in the process. The clean up
part is still a work in progress.
Happily,
as my children grow up and leave the nest they will possess the skills to
effectively grocery shop and prepare meals for themselves and their
families. It is an essential skill to
have and the sooner they learn the better off they are.
I need to really step this up with my kids. Got any advice?
ReplyDeleteI think the best thing to do is get them in there with you and let them watch what you are doing. Kids pick up a lot on what they see. Assign them small simple tasks so they feel included and that they are "helping". Make it fun too.
ReplyDelete