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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

  3. Super cute. I have 3 grand kids that area always cooking up something for me when I visit them. They would get a kick out of this.

  4. I have 7 grandchildren and they all like to cook with Nana, we started out with pancakes, I would measure all the ingediate said and let the dump it in the shaker I use for pancakes, once the liquid is added I let them shake it to a song which always ends in giggles, I heat up the griddle and depending on the age I let them drizzle the batter, we have had many interesting shapes… While the pancakes are cooking I have the children cut up strawberries with a plastic knife so we can decorate our creations…. They all love to cook….I am looking forward to introducing our pancake date to my youngest who is only 20 months!

  5. My girls have learned to cook as soon as they could speak. We bake cookies, make their birthday cakes, they love to make soup, they have play food and kitchenware. We love food, it brings families together…one most valuable tradition to learn and love!

  6. My son got some pretend cooking pots last Christmas & he loves pretending to make all kinds of things. We already have the Number Lovin Oven on his Christmas list for Santa!!!!

  8. I’ve been buying Leapfrog products for many years now. Every past purchase has been a great investment. I recommend leapfrog products to any new parent.

  9. Since birth, all of my children have enjoyed spending time with me in the kitchen! Shared on Facebook.

  12. My son loves the idea of the kitchen and he will be 2 in about 10 days I think he’d love something like this

  13. I love cooking with my son and he loves to help me!! Levi loves his pretend kitchen and making me “dinner”. This toy would be great for him!

  14. Since birth. My kiddos have always enjoyed watching me make things including all of their baby food 🙂

  15. This would be a great present for my 2 year old daughter! My 4 year old son loves cooking, so I take him to Mom/Child cooking classes at our local culinary school.

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