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

  2. Both of my boys have loved cooking since they were old enough to stand on a chair at the counter. They love making pizza and muffins!

  3. Hey Weelicious!
    Im soo thankful that I found your book before I had my babygirl, Emma. I had decided before she was born that I was going to prepare all of her meals from the garden (and/or from the ‘farmer’s market’☺️).. So, when I was making a mini-compilation of your recipes, I began to feel like I didn’t “bite off more” than I could’ve handled.
    Anywho, I made it a point to always make it mommy/daughter fun when I would prepare everything and as time passed by I could see the developing passion in her eyes for food and the preparation processes. Now that she’s 2 and with an amazing thirst for curiosity, she always loves a challenge for putting food combinations together, even if it’s with her lego’s.

  4. Hello, My kids first experience cooking was making scrambled eggs. We have a very close family. Grandma sometimes has cooking 101 classes with the kids 🙂

  6. My now two and a half year old son’s first experience cooking was making fish with his dad about a year ago! He even flipped the fish himself! Now he loves to help in the kitchen with everything!

  7. My two year old loves to help in the kitchen. She played with pots and pans at a young age and now loves to help stir anything I will allow. She runs for her stool to “help” whenever I’m in the kitchen.

  8. I share on Twitter with #WeeliciousGiveaways username is @KeriEjustice

  10. This oven looks sooooo cute. I’ve always loved leapfrog toys. Thanks for the chance. This looks perfect for my little guy.

  11. It’s kind of funny – the first time I had my daughter help me in the kitchen was when we made Weelicious spinach cake muffins together. She was about 16 months old. And she loved it! Still does! I can never bake alone. Haha.

  12. Cooking grilled cheese sandwich for lunch before going to afternoon kindergarten.

  13. My youngest absolutely loves helping out in the kitchen. Unloading the silverware is her favorite chore!

  14. Right now, my little one’s mostly watching me cook while banging things together to make noise! She loves doing things that mommy does though so it won’t be long!

  16. We love cooking with our two toddlers and they would LOVE this oven for their pretend play!

Comments are closed.