This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

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.

Would you like to save this?

We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!

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
Want to save this recipe?
Just enter your email and get it sent to your inbox! Plus you’ll get new recipes from me every week!

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

Categorized in , ,

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.

Learn More

Comments

  5. My 16 month old daughter is very interested when I’m cooking and she loves pretending to mix and pour

  6. My daughter loves to cook anything as long as she can stand on the step stool and mix or break and egg

  7. My daughter loved the first time I let her help me bake brownies. She got to stir the batter and help pour it in the pan.
    She also likes “making” mac&cheese and eggs in her pretend kitchen!

  8. All 4 of my little kiddos love to help mommy in the kitchen. I’m always tripping over stools and trying to find a job for all of them.

  9. My sons first experience in the kitchen was when he was about 1.5, he helped make pancakes. He loves to help in the kitchen and I’ve been looking for an oven for him, this would be perfect!

  10. I bring my baby into the kitchen while I cook-he sits in his high chair, or explores some of the safe cabinets and observes!

  11. My daughter and I first baked peanut butter cookies together in the kitchen. She had to try every ingredient that went into the cookies, and she still does whenever we bake together.

  12. My first experience in cooking with my daughter was quite messy as I taught her the fundamentals of spaghetti she taught me patience and paper towels are a must lol

  13. My kids favorite activity is cookie baking and decorating. Another thing I always let them help with is mixing and shaping the dough when I make challah bread.

  14. I brought the highchair in the kitchen when mine were about 6 months old. They loved playing with a wooden spoon while i cooked in front of them.

  15. I made the mistake not letting my kids in the kitchen, now with grandkids I make sure to have them help me all the time in the kitchen. They love it!

  16. I introduced my daughter to cooking from an early start by having her sprinkle cinnamon and other spices into oatmeal while I was cooking,

Comments are closed.