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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.
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.
My kids are nearly 3 and 18 months, and since our home is small, the kitchen also functions as a play room. They’ve been involved in cooking since the very start! Both love helping stir batters, mix dressings, and retrieve canned items from the cabinet.
I always loved being in the kitchen with my children when they were young. The best memories are those while making Christmas cutout cookies <3
My boys would love this! Playing in their kitchen is there favorite (we got a great preschool quality set off craigslist) and an oven would be a great addition. There love helping in the kitchen and one is requesting an apple peeler for Christmas.
My kids are lured into the kitchen by butter. Whenever the sticks of butter come out on the counter for baking, both of my little ones hustle in and ask for little bits of butter to be put on their tongue. They usually stick around to dump cups of flour or a teaspoon of vanilla into the batter and then stand in anticipation in front of the oven as the cakes or cookies puff up in front of them.
Making waffles together!
Shared the pin @ Mavi Mav
making pancakes!
Our girls have a mini cafe and adding this oven would amaze them! I love the idea of seeing them cook together and creating healthy alternatives. Thank you for sharing your mommy finds.
My child’s first cooking experience was making caramel apples. He mostly watched and ate an apple the entire time but it was fun
This is too cute!!
My kids would love to play with this oven!
My son’s preschool made apple crisps using apples from their very own apple trees. He loved mixing the ingredients and was really proud of his final product!
I would love to give this gift to my daughter for Christmas!
I shared on Pinterest @kcandck.
I shared in Instagram @kcandck
My daughter would love this oven for Christmas! She loves playing with her you kitchen and I would love to get her started in the next step!