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Why is Cooking Good for Children’s Development?

Cooking activities in early learning centres add more variety to the children’s experiences. In addition, children also develop a greater sense of appreciation of what goes into their food. This also exposes them to other cause-effect relationships such as what happens when a certain ingredient is heated or cooked.

How cooking activities support child development

Play and literacy are crucial activities in helping children prepare for the big school. Activities related to physical and cognitive development are a must in supporting the children’s rapid growth in their early years.

But learning activities and experiences don’t have to be confined to just literacy and playtime. After all, the goal is to help children gain a variety of experiences and stimulation. This way, they can develop a broader sense of appreciation and expand their comfort zone through a wide variety of activities.

One such activity is cooking. Even through just observation, the children’s minds will be stimulated and their curiosities will go deeper. Early on they will be exposed to the importance of processes and sequences that are found in daily experiences. They will also see that common activities such as cooking actually take several steps to complete. This is good for their rapid brain development as they’re still trying to make sense of the world at an early age.

Cooking activities complement other learning experiences such as those that are about sports and performing arts. Through performing arts, children can better appreciate music and rhythm. Through sports, children can better develop their physical coordination and spatial awareness. When it comes to cooking, children can enhance their pattern recognition skills and understanding of cause and effect.

Cooking is also a fun experience. It’s a no-pressure activity where children can just play and explore safely (with guidance from a qualified educator). It’s also a good opportunity to teach children more about science (e.g. how heat causes physical changes) and nature (e.g. how vegetables grow).

Child development goes beyond literacy because the ultimate goal is to help children reach their fullest potential in several different dimensions (e.g. physical, social, emotional). As a result, it’s crucial that we help them gain a variety of experiences and go through a diverse set of activities. This way, they will be better prepared for the big school and have a lot of fun as well.