Kitchen time is the perfect time to teach your children. For one thing, you have them trapped in a relatively confined area where they pretty much have to listen to you. We can all use that now and then, right? But seriously, it is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy learning together. Children gain a sense of pride in their accomplishments, by contributing to the family meal, and there are plenty of teaching moments in the process.
Budgeting
Kitchen time can be the chance you’ve been looking for to teach financial responsibility. Consider giving them a budget and then using the local grocery flyer, have your children plan meals around the sales. Other math opportunities include measurements and doubling recipes for the freezer, or halving a recipe to serve a smaller number.
Nutrition
Another great teaching moment with kitchen time is teaching your children about the foods they need to eat in order to fuel their bodies. God expects us to take care of the bodies He gave us. Learning how to eat healthy is an important part of that. Again, using the local flyer, the older kids can be sure to plan the healthiest meals possible for a certain amount of money, and younger kids can simply circle foods they believe are healthy.
Recipe Organization
Consider having the family put together a binder full of recipes broken down into categories which suit your family and homeschool. Having a section for extra healthy recipes is important and they can be the backbone of your recipe planning each week. They can also make room for recipes that interest them, or for super affordable recipes to keep on hand when budgeting is critical.
Enriching Other Studies
We love to use cooking in our geography study. As we virtually travel around the globe in our family homeschool, we enjoy cooking meals from the places we are learning about. One easy way to do that is to use the Eat Your Way Around the World and Eat Your Way Through the U.S. A. cookbooks. There are also plenty of science opportunities in the kitchen as you mix ingredients and watch chemical reactions occur. My son can spend hours just mixing vinegar and baking soda to make volcanoes!
There are many ways to use kitchen time in your family homeschool. No matter how you choose to use it, it’s time you won’t regret spending with the family. The sense of accomplishment you will see in your children as they serve meals they cooked or participated in cooking, is well worth the effort. The life lessons they learn in the process will enrich their experience for years to come.
