Do your kids a favor and invite them into your summer kitchen!

June 2009 by the editor of www.greatgrandmother.org

Ten Read & Print Hints that will change your child's life

Why would we suggest that you are doing anybody any favors by inviting your kids into the kitchen on those long, hot summer days? Well, for one, it balances out the raw physical activities with some creative brain time. Second, it closes the learning loop between preparing the garden and watering the plants to harvesting the vegetables and making a meal. And third, the act will strike a bond--a bond between you and your child and a bond between your child and the her food.

Studies conclusively show strong links between hands-on food preparation during childhood with an adult appreciation of traditions, food preparation, and healthy food exploration. It stands to reason that when kids are exposed to kitchen practices early on, they have a better chance as adults to experiment with recipes, cook at home instead of eating at restaurants, and broaden their tastes.

And when most of our summer harvests come from our kitchen gardens, our neighbor's blueberry bushes, our local farmers' markets, or our PYO strawberry patch, early habits will include fresh, organic, and local fruits and vegetables.

Here's another benefit: when kids spend time helping to prepare a fresh and healthy meal, they both take pride in their work and have greater respect for their food sources, which may ultimately lead to a greater respect for the soil and the farmer. In addition, healthy food habits tilt the scales toward healthy children--and that's a plus in a world where childhood obesity is an epidemic!

1. Start by scheduling a date. I like to alert my son Schuyler a couple days ahead of time so he can start to scope out the garden to see what will be coming up for harvest. This running start gets him excited and allows him to start to think about [often crazy] recipes.

2. Encourage your child to come up with his own recipe. That engenders a bit more ownership of the process. But if that does not work, then come up with a couple options from which he can select. This is important if you have a finicky eater, because moods (as most of us know) often dictate what one is hungry for! This step also illustrates the planning process, as it were, where you can talk about other ingredients, substitutions, or swaps (from chocolate to strawberry!).

3. Invite a friend. Sometimes experimenting in the kitchen is more fun when a friend or two come along to join the team. Besides burning off some pre-kitchen energy, a couple of children on your kitchen team can be a lot of fun--showing that preparing food can be exciting! Have the kids name their kitchen team, further adding to their commitment to the process.

4. Ask lots of questions. Even if you know your child's dining proclivities or overall culinary knowledge, ask questions. Inquire about why she chose the recipe. Ask about how to use a certain piece of kitchen equipment or utensil. Be inquisitive. It shows that you care, that you listen, and that you have an equal investment as part of the family. Plus, when kids are put in the position of answering questions, they tend to learn better and more quickly pick up skills and aptitudes.

5. Encourage likes and dislikes. Nothing could be more important than encouraging your children to take a position and back it up. If your daughter does not like broccoli, then ask her why. Is it the flavor, the texture, the smell, or some bad experience with it in the past? Appreciating tastes is a respectful habit, and at the same time it encourages your children to "make an argument" in support of their decision. Of course, you can do this with their favorites as well.

6. Challenge their senses. If you are preparing a savory dish, especially, then you can challenge your children's senses. I often ask my son to select one or two herbs that might go well with a certain dish. In our Sunapee garden, we have a selection of five or six herbs, so he has a choice. Not long ago, I was mixing some curry spices and he walked into the kitchen and asked if I was making ginger snaps. He obviously smelled the heavy ginger frangrance from the kitchen--a root spice of any good curry. This episode opened a dialogue about the senses you use in the kitchen. Try it at your home! Our senses can--especially in the kitchen--can use some practice and exercise.

7. Promote the "try it once" routine. One of our best friends has a simple rule around her home: try it once. No child can go against the rule...and it has been responsible for my son getting to like certain vegetables that he had avoided for some time or never tried. When preparing a certain dish, you can use the same rule. If you run out of one ingredient, you can substitute another or try something different. Try it once! If it works, then perhaps you and your daughter have stumbled upon a new recipe! Plus, this activity shows that you can be experimental in the kitchen. (If you substitute one ingredient for another and it does not work because of a certain chemical reaction, then you have a teaching moment. Since much of good cooking's success is found in the science of chemistry, there is no better, hands-on way to teach a child about chemical reactions.)

8. Develop stories and shared experiences. Let's face it: life with your young ones is simply too short. Bingo! Before you know it, they are grown and don't want to spend any time with you...especially in the kitchen. But by developing stories and shared experiences--both successes and failures--we accomplish a couple of great things. First, we bond with our children. Second, we have something to share at the table when we sit down to enjoy our meal. And third, we have an lifetime experience that will both bring us happiness and remind us of what we learned in the kitchen.

9. Name it. I grew up in my parents' restaurants, creating my own concoctions. I always gave them my own names. After a long Friday night shift of making hundreds of pizzas, meatballs, and shrimp scampi dishes, I was bone tired and hungry, and would also get bold and create my own dishes. To this day, I still make some of those very same recipes that I named when I was growning up in my folks' restaurants. Once again, it forges the link between me and my food. Give your son or daughter the same experience!

10. Honor them during your meal. It means a lot to a child when they can share his/her accomplishments with those he/she loves. During the meal, ask them to interpret the kitchen experience--challenging, fun, hard, easy, exciting, etc. And thank them for helping prepare something for the greater good. This small step has bigger ramifications. In my experience, when I thank my son for helping me provide for a larger group of family and friends, he suddenly sees his place in the mix. He solidifies his place in the family and takes pride in playing an important role among friends. I'm no child psychologist, but I bet this small step will have great rewards as he grows up!

 

Thanks for giving this a try. When I started this Web site, I wanted to make sure that we engaged our little people in the food decision-making process, for lots of reasons. But even if we help build a little self-esteem and have a couple laughs, isn't it all worth it?

Sustainably,

Mario