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When you look at all the research showing that kids who get into the kitchen and eat with families have a lower risk of obesity and higher grades in school it’s enough reason to make sure your kids love cooking from day one. When you watch kids get excited about fresh foods, their taste, smell and how you turn them into a recipe they get to enjoy it’s incredibly gratifying.

Here are 3 benefits to bringing your kids in the kitchen_

1. Social time with the family_ as kids get older there’s homework, after school activities and plenty of distractions. When you plan for meals as a family and getting your kids to participate in cooking with you it can be a great time to catch up on your days and hear about moments you might have missed.

2. Educational_ cooking is much more than food. It’s about math, chemistry, working as a team and understanding how foods change depending on how they’re cooked.

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3. Fun_ when you start to look at cooking as an art project that you get to enjoy immediately and share with others it’s a whole lot more fun. By allowing kids to be active participants in the kitchen you’re giving them ownership over the food they put in their bodies, empowering them and hopefully in turn creating a lot of laughs.

LeapFrog Number Lovin' Oven giveaway from weelicious.comPin
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I feel like it’s never too early to get kids in the kitchen and that means even when they’re toddlers. If you’re concerned about them getting hurt in any way, then starting with a toy like the LeapFrog Number Lovin’ Oven is a great start. Little chefs can enjoy hours of pretend-play fun with learning secretly baked in. Designed for ages 2 years and up, the Number Lovin’ Oven talks, sings and gets number skills cooking through 30+ songs and phrases. It helps little ones connect the numbers 1 to 5 on the slider with low, medium and high temperature settings, as well as shorter and longer cooking times.

I got to see just how much my friend Grey (in the video above) became even more interested in cooking through our fun playing with the Number Lovin’ Oven.

LeapFrog Number Lovin' Oven giveaway from weelicious.comPin

Updated October 22, 2022 and Published November 13, 2015 by Catherine McCord

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About the Author

Catherine is a mama of three. A Kentucky girl living in California. Here’s what I know: all kids can be great eaters and mealtime must be easy. I create simple, healthy recipes the whole family will love.

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Comments

  1. My son has wanted to help in the kitchen since he was 2 years old. His first attempts at helping were to stir pancake batter, pour ingredients in the bowl, and whisk eggs. Now he wants to do everything and has become very good at cracking eggs without getting shell in the bowl.

  2. Our three-year-old has been helping cook for about a year.. She started by helping make sandwiches and she’s gone on from there. Her favorite thing to do now is crack open eggs. She’s actually good at it.

  3. Had my daughter up on the counter watching me cook as soon as she could sit up.

  7. My oldest daughter was only 5 months old when she helped me stir the cookies we were making for Santa!

  8. My daughter has sat on the counter since she was one watching my husband cook, she loves it

  9. Before my son could talk, he used to come into the kitchen and sniff his little nose. That was his way of saying, “hey Mom, what’s cooking up there? Can I smell??!!” Precious memories. Now, at 2, he is constantly taking out my pots and pans and sliding them under our kitchen chairs and telling me that he is putting them in the oven. What a perfect toy for him! Thank you!

  11. My granddaughter , who loves helping her mom in the kitchen , would absolutely Love this. What a Great teaching tool this could be as well as a great opportunity for ” together time ” .

  12. My daughter 3 and since she was 2 we have been making and baking our own bread. She loves helping to knead it, watch it bake, and eat a slice after it cools some. She also helps me to make scrambled eggs, french toast and of course cakes and cookies. When we are not in “mommy’s” kitchen, we are in her kitchen pretend baking banana bread, chocolate cake, and applesauce soup.

  13. Both my kids (4 yrs / 19 mos) are pretty adventurous eaters and love to help in the kitchen. My 4 year-old started to help me cook and bake when he was about 1 1/2 years old. But it really took me by surprise when he cooked up some breakfast sausages for us this week pretty much by himself (with supervision, of course)!

  14. My kids love to help in the kitchen and enjoy playing pretend restaurant in their play kitchen.

  15. My toddler likes to “dump it!” I let him add premeasured dry ingredients to recipes. He loves it.

  16. My kids all love to help me cook -a taste! My daughter’s first cooking adventure was helping with carrot cake. I think all the ingreidnets went onto the counter before they went in the bowl, but it still tasted great!

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