Meal Kit Delivery Services Help Kids Learn to Cook

With so many restaurants and fast-food places flooding us with advertisements these days, it’s more important than ever before that individual, couples, and families learn how to cook at home. Not only is it a great way to spend time together, but the food is tastier and much better for you. Perhaps the best part, however, is that preparing meals at home can be a true learning experience for everyone involved.

Teaching children to cook gives them a valuable lesson that they can take with them into adulthood. Their lives will be easier once they’re out on their own (which sadly happens sooner than we want to or expect) and they’ll appreciate the skills that they’ve learned. Today, we’re going to give you some tips on how to use our convenient meal kit delivery services to teach your kids to cook.

Start Them at an Early Age

Learning how to cook can happen at any age, but the earlier you start, the better. The amount of responsibility or how much you involve your kids will depend on their age, but you can start as early as 18 months to two years old on tiny tasks and then build up from there. Getting them acclimated to cooking equipment and food preparation will help them become comfortable and confident in the kitchen.

Practice with Simple Recipes

The recipes in each meal delivery kit are not difficult to follow, but if your child has never done anything in the kitchen before, your best bet is to start them off with something very simple. Find them a few recipes online that they’ll able be able to do, with supervision, of course. This will help them learn the basics so that they can be ready to cook for themselves later in their lives.

Teach Them Basic Food Safety

While you’re teaching your child cooking skills, you also need to teach them about food safety. This includes washing their hands before handling food, pulling back long hair, keeping surfaces clean, separating raw food, and cooking meats thoroughly. And, of course, you’ll want to teach them how to handle forks, knives, blenders, and other kitchen tools that could cause injury if handled improperly.

Watch YouTube Cooking Shows

Everyone knows that kids love to watch YouTube videos. Instead of being bothered by the many hours they spend on the computer or their phone, you can use this to your advantage. There are many different family-friendly cooking channels on YouTube and similar platforms, some of which are geared toward teaching kids to cook. The visual experience provided by these videos can make each lesson easier, too.

Make Meal Kits a Weekly Event

One of the best aspects of meal delivery kits is that you get to choose how many meals per week are sent to your home. By making cooking with your kids a weekly event, they’ll be able to build upon their skills more quickly and have fun doing it. This is also a great way to spend more quality family time together that doesn’t include sitting in front of a TV or going out to an expensive restaurant.

Get Them to Read the Recipe

A great way to get your kids involved while you’re preparing a meal is to get them to read the recipe cards that are included with each meal delivery kit. Having them read the step-by-step instructions aloud will also help improve their reading and speaking skills. If there are any terms that they’re not aware of, you can use this as a wonderful teaching moment.

Put Aside Extra Cooking Time

The truth is that meal prep with a child involved is likely to take more time to complete than if you did it on your own. Just keep in mind that this extra time with your children is 100% worth it. By allowing for extra time during your meal planning each week and starting to cook earlier than normal, you’ll ensure that things go more smoothly, and that dinner can start on time or as close as possible.

Always Be Patient

As any parent knows, it can sometimes be difficult to remain patient when teaching children new things. They can sometimes get frustrated if they don’t understand a concept right away or may simply get antsy on wanting to go from one step to the next. No matter what step of the cooking instruction process you’re in, always attempt to take your time and be patient.

Teach Them to Use Equipment

It’s obvious that learning how to use kitchen tools and equipment is an essential part of the cooking process. If your children are old enough to use equipment such as an oven, stove, blender, or other appliances, there’s no time like the present. This will help them have more confidence in the kitchen and can also make the time go faster because you’ll be able to split up certain duties.

Try Not to Worry about the Mess

Anyone who’s ever cooked a big meal involving multiple steps knows that it can sometimes be a messy process. You certainly don’t want your kitchen to become a disaster area of sorts but try not to worry about the mess too much until after you’re done. If something spills or gets dropped on the floor, you should clean up these issues right away to avoid slip-and-fall accidents or a bigger mess.

Make Cleaning Up a Part of It

It’s no secret that cleaning up the kitchen after you’ve finished cooking and eating is the least favorite task of the meal. However, it’s part of the cooking process so it’s important that when teaching your kids to cook, you’re also teaching them the value of having a clean kitchen afterwards. The best way to go about this is to divide duties amongst the family so that everything can be done more quickly, and you can rest afterwards.

Contact Chef Ami’s for Healthy Meal Kit Delivery Services

Chef Ami offers the most nutritious, well-crafted, healthy meal kits around. We use locally sourced food, perfectly sized portions, and several types of protein to match anyone’s palette or dietary needs. If you have any questions about meal delivery kits in Tampa or would like to sign up for our services, give us a call at (813) 773-4719 today.