How cooking with your family can strengthen your bonds?
Photo by Becca Tapert on Unsplash
The modern-day lifestyle often leaves little time for activities that promote family bonding. Most of us are either too busy with work and school or need to juggle between all the different responsibilities that take up a lot of our time, thus preventing us from spending quality time with our loved ones. However, if there is one thing that always manages to bring us all together, it’s food. Gathering around for a homemade meal is what helps us reconnect and be a part of our loved ones’ lives, no matter how hectic their schedules may be. But, why stop there? Why not take it up a notch and try cooking together? Other than being a great way to strengthen family bonds, it also brings a plethora of benefits to you and your family. Here are some of the ways cooking can help bring your family closer together.
It lets you connect with your family members
The reality of most families nowadays is that most of us spend our free time looking at the screen. TV, computers, phones, video games – you name it – we’re all drifting away from each other because of these distractions. That is why it’s important for families to work together and swap their screen time for some quality time. Turn off the TV and instead play some music you all enjoy. Don’t reply to the mails unless it’s urgent and don’t answer the phone while you’re preparing your meals. Reserving one portion of your day for cooking up a meal together will help connect with your loved ones, catch up on what’s happening in their lives, and encourage sharing, all of which are vital for a raising a functional, loving family.
It promotes healthy eating habits
Home cooking is a great way to encourage healthy eating habits in children. Homemade foods are more nutritious than anything they can order when eating out, and by cooking together with their parents, kids get to build a healthy approach to nutrition and maintain it throughout their lifetime. To ensure your kitchen is optimized for healthy eating, you need to make sure it suits the needs of your family. When the kitchen space is functional, it allows for easier movement and gives you some breathing room. Kitchen renovations are gaining popularity in countries like Australia, especially in the eastern part of the state. In order to make the most of their cooking space, homeowners from Sydney’s eastern suburbs turn to experts for kitchens in Sydney to build them a kitchen that maximizes traffic flow and that actually works for them.
It transforms your kitchen into a classroom
Other than being a fun way to spend some time with your family, cooking together can also be very educational for children. Let them explore on their own, and answer any of the curious questions they may have when it comes to cooking. Read recipes aloud to teach them some new vocabulary items and give them instructions to follow so they learn how to prepare a meal step-by-step. Math is an important aspect of cooking, and every step consists of various mathematical concepts. Therefore, baking and cooking can be tools for teaching math. Use the ingredients you need for your meal to teach them simple math equations and help them understand things like fractions. Aside from math, cooking together will also benefit their social skills, communication, and help them understand the importance of collaboration.
It promotes teamwork
Other than being a useful tool for education, spending time together in the kitchen will teach your kids how to function as a part of the team. This can be quite useful for their development as it will give them a taste of how things work in the grown-up world and how everyone has a role to fulfill which ultimately leads to achieving the mutual goal. Organizing ingredients, planning your meals, problem-solving through taste tests, and many other aspects of cooking all contribute to creating a positive and fun learning environment that will teach your kids skills they will apply later in life.
It can boost your kids’ self-esteem
Cooking as a part of the team means everyone is responsible for something, and that sense of responsibility can be quite useful for building your child’s self-esteem. Before you let them prepare food with you, go through the list of rules – washing hands before handling food, not touching hot surfaces, and staying away from sharp items. By giving them a chance to help you in the kitchen, you’re showing that you trust them enough to participate in creating a meal, which gives them a sense of importance, and that has a positive impact on their confidence.
Cooking is so much more than simply putting the food on the table. It can be a fun way to bond with your family members and teach your kids valuable lessons. Use the time you spend in the kitchen to bring everyone together, spend some quality time with your loved ones, and create lasting memories you’ll cherish for years to come.