5 ways to involve kids in the kitchen this Xmas, to have them set the menu, cook with you and more. This Xmas make it all about family activities!
I love the idea of kids in kitchen. Besides a fun thing to do. It is a life skill that I strongly believe that should be passed on kids (and I mean boys and girls alike). I have been taking cooking and baking classes for kids for some years now and it’s always delightful to work with them and look at the stuff you have been cooking for from an absolutely new angle. So this Xmas I have tips of how to involve kids in the kitchen this Xmas!
1. Bake with them : It’s a no brainer, every kid loves cakes and cookies, to eat and to bake. There is a special joy that one gets by licking the batter in the end. So bake with your kids this Xmas, let me mix and whisk, pour and cut the cookies. Be careful about handling the oven though, may be talk to them a bit about heat safety.
2. Design the Menu with them : Take out your cookbooks, go to Pinterest, google some recipes. It’s so joyful to sit and browse with them. My son and I love to sit on the floor surrounded by all my cookbooks, peering at them. Sometimes getting excited by a picture, sometimes by an ingredient but that is a great bonding time. My husband, on the other hand, when he cooks with my son, goes to youtube and selects something. So pick your medium, but do it with them. It also adds an additional pressure on them to eat it then, after all they designed the menu (you can do this for the regular weekly menu’s as well).
3. Go Xmas ingredient shopping with them : I know online grocery shopping is what is in these days considering the busy lives we live but special occasions ask for special things. So once your menu is ready, make a list of things you need. Go to the local vegetable market, chat with the sellers. Encourage your kids to pick up what they want. Go to the fish market or to the meat seller if you are non-vegetarian. It’s exciting to see the reactions of kids and questions they have when they see the source of their food and their initial state rather than what comes to the table. Or if you are adventurous enough, do this the other way around, pick up what you like in the market and give yourself and your kids a masterchef like challenge and to pick/create something out of it.
4. Set up the table : I think this is where most kids at their creativity best, ask to design how to setup the table and let them to do it. If they want to bring that latest star war character let it be, Xmas is a family affair and it always helps to personalise stuff and kids love nothing better than having a bit of their stuff shared with family.
5. Clean Up: Both pre and post cooking, teach them cleaning beyond the typical mopping it, cleaning the cook top, microwave, fridge etc. There is one important thing that we all forget : the pests in the kitchen and to prevent ourselves from food poisoning. Talk to them about the hidden cockroaches in the kitchen that spread food poisoning. Pull up a little anatomy of Cockroaches if your kid and you are that kind, show them how Cockroaches hide in cracks and cervices of the kitchen. Follow this website to know how. Use sprays like Lal HIT to eliminate the hidden cockroaches, with the deep reach nozzle of Lal HIT you can reach out to places like sink outlets, gas cylinder base, cracks and cervices in the kitchen where these pesky cockroaches hide. Have your little one remind you to buy Lal HIT when you go shopping next, make a game out of him finding corners you could clean and spray. But make sure that the product is handled by you.
Have a happy and merry Xmas.
PS: This is a sponsored post in association with Godrej HIT!
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