10 Reasons Why Cooking With Kids Matters...And Impacts Literacy

I’ve been cooking with my littles, friends, and a few non-earth-shattering, but amazing-to-me, realities have emerged.  I will admit that in times past, I’ve only wanted their participation in little ways--because, well, it takes longer and gets messier when Pre-Ks are in the kitchen! But I declare, I have been realizing the POWER of this experience in shaping these little minds!

So these are my random thoughts on just TEN ways that cooking can impact learning and literacy (These are in no particular order):

• Vocabulary--What is “sifting”? Why do you call that a funnel, Mommy?”

• Elapsed time and patience become your trusted friends

• Reinforcing the knowledge that life is about process

• Real-life literacy opportunities like interactive writing (we see this recipe and like it; let’s write the ingredients in a list we can take to the store!)

• Close reading--Does the recipe say “Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes,” or “Simmer for 20 minutes; cover”? It makes a difference.

• Hands-on connection between cause and effect with clear criteria--does it taste right? How do we know?

• If phonological awareness is being able to hear, “feel”, what words do and how the parts go together, what is the mathematical equivalent?  Whatever that’s called, that’s what the math of cooking helps kids to get.   Also related to math, I know that the ability to estimate, to conceptualize amounts related to each other, is a powerful indicator of math ability.  Kids who cook get good at this! Don’t you think it’s possible that our cooking kids can learn the power of a “pinch of this or that”?

• A healthy respect for the power of useful but dangerous things--fire, knives, etc.--and a knowledge of how to stay safe around them

• Relationship-building--Burger King may pass us sandwiches and onion rings through a window, but no packaged product can seal our hearts with our families and create lifelong memories!

• People who know how to feed themselves live out self-sufficiency in powerful ways.  They may even be motivated to grow their own food later.  Creating something from nothing sparks a HUNGER for building our own creative capacity!

And there you have it, friends.  Ten good reasons to cook with the children in your life, or at the very least, to think about how to incorporate what our students may know from the kitchen into the life of the classroom.  Happy creating!

Love and light,