Here’s Why You Should Include Your Family in the Kitchen

Have you ever thought about including your family in the kitchen but then decided against it? Or maybe you wanted to invite your young kids to join you in the cooking process but your mind starts spiraling. It goes down all the paths of what could happen, what’s likely to happen & then what you don’t have time to clean? It’s just not the right time, right?

I’ve been there too so here are a few benefits to consider, because having your family join you in the kitchen is so worth it! Plus, there’s a few tips to get you going too.

So, grab your people & let’s jump to it.

Creating a Family-Centered Culture in the Kitchen

You know, there’s so many great reasons to bring your family along for the things you do in the kitchen. Especially your babies (of all ages!). If you want to pump them up with good food on the sneak, let them work with you making the meals! And you don’t even need to be a registered dietitian to know that cooking meals at home is a good way to enjoy a healthy lifestyle.

But what’s makes it so great is more than just how much time you save doing so – especially if you use meal planning to reduce the number of grocery store trips you make. It’s even more than learning new things like different cooking skills or the best way to make those healthy meals. 

If you’re struggling to picture all these great benefits because of the mountain of anxiety that sits before you, then imagine this. Time spent in the kitchen impacts everyone in any stage of life. There’s a learning experience for both you as the primary teacher, older kids & younger children too.

13 Benefits of Including Your Family in the Kitchen

First off, you can create all sorts of family traditions in the kitchen. But an encouraging atmosphere is a great opportunity to create the sort of environment that’s filled with life skills development, bonding & quality time.

Plus, you can explore fun ways to create healthy habits like like trying whole foods and whole grains. Stuff that maybe you’ve never thought twice about but that will benefit your family’s health. You can also build family (or cultural) traditions & just growing all of your confidence & independence! 

Whole Family Benefits

1. Teach your family & kids essential life skills like basic cooking techniques, meal preparation & kitchen and food safety. 
2. Share with your entire family the reasoning behind why you chose a certain ingredient or food preservation method. Explain your style of organization. Understanding the why often helps keep things going that way!
3. This is a great time to explain the importance of cooking healthy recipes or different foods. You can also explain the benefits of cooking in the hopes that they’ll eat at home when they get older.
4. Create positive memories & bonding experiences as you all enjoy meaningful interactions or even some new tastes in the kitchen as a family. 
5. Model family values before them like sustainability, self-sufficiency & appreciation for homemade meals. Plus, the obvious one – family time. This is also your chance to model any other values or beliefs like stewardship, integrity, patience & discipline.
6. Give your family the chance to feel a sense of accomplishment & sense of pride in the tasks they do in the kitchen. Or learn new skills & gain confidence as they practice them! You might be surprised how much you can boost your family’s self-esteem just through the simple act of letting them be around you in the kitchen.

Encouraging Participation from Older Children

9. Pass down (or create) family recipes together. Let them in to a front seat in your family history by doing this. It will strengthen your family ties & help kids connect with their heritage or culture through food. And if you feel you don’t have a culture to connect with, your very own kitchen is the perfect place to start crafting one. Easy recipes and kid-friendly recipes will be a hit with your younger/smaller family members.
10. You’ll gain extra support to do what you need to do too. It’s more man-power across the board. From older children helping make the grocery list to young children putting things in the cart while grocery shopping. Or your whole family helping with food preparation.  

Benefits to Including the Little Hands

11. Bring the small children into the kitchen from an early age & in tandem with making a really delicious meal, teach them language skills, hand-eye coordination, how to wash fruit & practice their fine motor skills like gripping small pieces too. Plus, they can eat soft foods while learning colors too.
12. For kids in any age group, just being around in the kitchen is an easy way to learn some important kitchen skills like how to make good choices and to listen. How to read a new recipe or even handle a butter knife and wooden spoons.
13. It’s a great way to set the foundation of a positive relationship with food from a young age and possibly prevent them from becoming picky eaters. 

Tips to Include Your Family in the Kitchen

Here’s some different ways you can really bring this home to your family. 

First, you’ll need to get your heart & mind right. I understand how easy it might seem to work when no one is around because you can be more productive or efficient. But sometimes, that mentality robs our families of valuable experiences. So,

Evaluate Your Heart & Mind

• Keep an open mind to working in the kitchen with & around your family. Make it a point to do this instead of saving things for later when they’re not around.
• Have a servant’s heart. Be patient & willing to accept some losses or setbacks as a result of having more people in the mix, especially when it comes to kids of all ages. This might mean less focus & more repeats, but if you’ve already made provisions for it, you likely won’t have a bad attitude about it.
• Set Realistic Expectations. Be realistic about the time and effort required for each activity. Choose recipes & tasks to fit within your family’s schedule & energy levels. Don’t overcrowd yourself or them! Keep things simple yet manageable ensures no one feels overwhelmed or stressed out because that won’t end well. And if you ask for a little help, be patient too. A big kid might have more physical abilities than a slightly younger child, but it might be that smaller child who wants to the task. Make it a point to always have a handful of simple tasks for different ages. It’s a good time to get them involved.

Explore some tangible ways to make it a success

A few more…

• Use storytelling. Share family stories, folk lore or cultural traditions while you’re in the kitchen. A lot of learning (& remembering) happens through shared experiences. You may not think much about it, but this could be huge. Especially if you have an extensive family history to recount! This sure would spark a lively discussion during family meals, I tell you that. 
• Create a Kid-Friendly Cooking Station. If there are spaces in your kitchen or appliances you’re truly not comfortable with sharing, designate a specific area in the kitchen where kids can safely participate in cooking activities. I get that there are several valuable skills to be learned, but if you’re working with sharp knives & a child doesn’t listen well enough, you should remove them from that area for a time. Child-sized utensils, bowls & stools may make it easier. But if you train them with the real deal, you’ll save on the cost of buying, storing, maintaining & replacing children’s tools! They can still learn important skills there too.
• Establish Kitchen Rules & Safety Guidelines. Prioritize kitchen safety by establishing clear rules & guidelines for handling utensils, appliances & hot surfaces. This is a great idea even if you don’t have littles. What’s obvious to you may not be so obvious to everyone else. But when it comes to kids, teach them some important lessons like basic kitchen safety practices and about foodborne illness. This includes washing hands before cooking, using oven mitts to handle hot dishes & keeping sharp objects out of reach.

Conclusion

Lastly, you should celebrate your achievements. Recognize each family member’s efforts in the kitchen & their growth! Celebrate the small milestones along the way & acknowledge how everyone’s contributions are changing the face of your kitchen dynamics. Depending on the age of the child or family member, let them determine how they’d like to celebrate. 

The long-term benefits of having your family help in the kitchen are probably infinite. I mean, is there anything easier than incorporating cooking food with math skills and any other essential life skill than by making health meals? So I hope you’re just as excited about strengthening your family harmony as I am. And if you want to know more, here are 5 more ways to include your family in the kitchen. Go ahead & start today! 

You’ve got this, lovely.