The Child in the Kitchen

The long relaxing days of summer are such a perfect time to start meaningful traditions in the home with young children. Cooking is a marvelous one to begin now.

Children love to cook and EAT. So many lessons--from why do we wash our hands and where does food come from--are made more real for the child in the kitchen. Shopping and better yet, growing some of your own food, makes the experience even more valuable. Children really do love to help in a meaningful way--peeling the carrots or washing lettuce is a genuine and fun way for them to contribute. Working together in the kitchen also affords the perfect opportunity to dialogue about good nutrition and what making healthy choices actually means.

Resources are plentiful for families today to incorporate the child's participation in this basic activity of home life. Any search on the internet or at the public library will easily fill your information pantry to the top.

Molly Katzen's cookbook, Pretend Soup, is a favorite at our school with great step by step illustrations for the child to follow. You may even be inspired to record your cooking experiences in a child's or family recipe book (the relatives are just waiting for this gift, right?)

http://www.molliekatzen.com/kids.php

Mollie and notable others have some things to say about children in the kitchen:

How and when did you start cooking?
I started make-believe cooking when I was a toddler, using invisible ingredients, plus grass, flowers, and mud. I started cooking with real food when I was about 8 or 9. My mother and grandmother let me follow them around the kitchen, and I was entranced. I tested and wrote my first recipe when I was 9. It was for a chocolate dessert that leaked out of the oven door and across the floor. My wonderful, patient mother, instead of yelling at me, said, "Well this is certainly original. Let's give it a name." We called it "Creeping Australian BooBoo." Lacking the good sense to be deterred, I went on to write many more recipes over the next 35+ years. Somewhere along the way, I figured out how to have things stay in the oven.--Mollie Katzen

Thank you, Michelle Obama--“There’s nothing really cooler,” Mrs. Obama said, “than coming to the White House and harvesting some of the vegetables and being in the kitchen with Cris and Sam and Bill, and cutting and cooking and actually experiencing the joys of your work.”

For children, she said, food is all about taste, and fresh and local food tastes better.

“A real delicious heirloom tomato is one of the sweetest things that you’ll ever eat,” she said. “And my children know the difference, and that’s how I’ve been able to get them to try different things.

“I wanted to be able to bring what I learned to a broader base of people. And what better way to do it than to plant a vegetable garden in the South Lawn of the White House?”

For urban dwellers who have no backyards, the country’s one million community gardens can also play an important role, Mrs. Obama said.

But the first lady emphasized that she did not want people to feel guilty if they did not have the time for a garden: there are still many changes they can make.

“You can begin in your own cupboard,” she said, “by eliminating processed food, trying to cook a meal a little more often, trying to incorporate more fruits and vegetables.” http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/dining/20garden.html

And, of course, Alice Waters--

Why do you think involving children in growing food and preparing it can make such a big difference for kids? My solution is not to try to feed children in the same way that fast food nation does — which is to figure out a gimmick to get them to eat something. It’s to bring them into a whole relationship with food that’s connected to nature and our culture.

No other country thinks about food as just fueling up. It’s always connected to the seasons, to nature, to what’s growing, to celebrations with family and friends. It’s a kind of moment in the day when you collect your thoughts and stop to sit down and to eat. Food is considered precious and vital, and farmers are treasured. We’ve allowed ourselves to be completely indoctrinated into another way of thinking about food in this country.http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/alice-waters-takes-kids-beyond-chicken-nuggets/?apage=3

Even Rachael Ray-- how does a cooking class help a child overcome his or her circumstances?

It literally changes the quality of your life to be able to eat good food. It improves the nutrition of a child, and therefore it improves his or her health. But I think it’s also a self-esteem issue. I think we should get our kids into the kitchen not only for their health, but because being able to provide good food for yourself is very empowering. Being able to cook a simple meal and feed your family at the end of the day really feeds your soul.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/rachael-ray-wants-kids-in-the-kitchen/

And the wonderful Julia Child--credits her early years in a Montessori school with the preparation of her hand and mind for cooking.

“Any child who is self-sufficient, who can tie his shoes, dress or undress himself, reflects in his joy and sense of achievement the image of human dignity, which is derived from a sense of independence.” --Dr. Maria Montessori (Maria Montessori concluded that the child needed meaningful work by which she could construct her personality. Thus, practical life and the Montessori method itself were born.)

Bon Appetit!