Teach your preschoolers - Task 2 - Cooking

Well here I am with our 2nd installment of Teach Your Preschoolers. This week's topic is cooking.

As a child my mother never let me in the kitchen. EVER. When I moved out of home I didnt even know how to boil an egg let alone cook myself some

I am now making it a part of my weekly routine that every saturday night my kids will be cooking the family dinner. It only needs to be something simple, toasted sandwiches are a great start, but the kids get the biggest thril knowing that they have cooked mummy and daddy dinner. It makes them feel just that little bit more grown up and raises their self confidence and self esteem, especially when they hear you bragging on the phone to Nanna that the kids cooked you a delicious dinner.

Of course all the dangerous parts are taken care of by either Mum or Dad, eg cutting up tomato and placing the bread under in the grill, toaster, or sandwich maker. But why not get the kids to put as little or as much toppings on the toast as they like, and then you do the cooking part for them? They can even help you carry it over to the stove/sandwich maker so long as they dont touch, it just makes them feel that little bit more included.

Another great idea is home made pizza. You can use either english muffins for mini-pizzas, or if youre not up to making your own pizza dough, they are quite inexpensive to buy the bases at your local supermarket. Once again, let them put all the topping on and mum or dad puts it in the oven. Once its cooked and youre eating it, over-exaggerate how tasty it is and watch their beautiful smiles grow.

Try and teach them to cook a different type of food each week, if dinner is not an option how about getting them to make breakfast in bed one morning for the other parent that isnt supervising? Soon enough, by starting them young they will grow up to be master chefs and you never know, you may have a young Jamie Oliver on your hands!