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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

  2. I have a 16 month old and she’s not quite yet ready to cook but loves watching her mama in the kitchen cooking. I watch the food network and cooking channel constantly and my daughter watches along with me hopefully learning a thing or two. I would love to win this for her and watch her eyes light up as she plays with her very own oven and stove top.

  3. My boys have been cooking since they were very little, starting small of course. My oldest is 8 1/2 now… For his 6th birthday he got his own charcoal grill.. My 3 year old loves to help pour and stir everything.

  4. My son never liked being alone or having me put him down, so he would always cook with me. He used to have a book with pictures of food and even before he could talk, he would point to the food he wanted to eat.

  6. My oldest first experience cooking in the kitchen was helping make tea because that’s his favorite drink! Then he moved onto eggs, pancakes. He’s only 4, but so smart and loves to cook. His brother is 2 and ready to get started! Would love to win, but either way I’ll be buying this for Christmas!

  7. My grandson loves to help his pop pop cook eggs he has been doing this since he was about 18 months now he wants to help cook apple pie peel pototoes him and his lil sister would love to win this

  8. My daughter aubrey’s first encounter with cooking was when we made homemade cookies for the holidays. I gave her a seperate bowl of batter, sat her on the kitchen counter, and let her have at it! She has loved cooking ever since 🙂

  13. Both my boys love to help me make dinner every night. They’re 4 and 2, so their tasks include stirring, dumping in the ingredients Ive already measured. But their favorite is sprinkling the salt! They are good, healthy eaters. Which makes me so happy because I was such a picky eater as a child.

  14. OMG! I have got to get one of these for Christmas for my 2 year old little girl!!!

  16. My daughter is 14 months and we just started in the kitchen. She tends to like eating and pulling my pots and pans out more lol! So I just make her my taste tester! I am trying to save up to buy her a kitchen play set of her own to put in the kitchen. Than we both can cook together. Our home is filled with Leap Frog products. I encourage these products for the educational learning.

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