If your children are starting to show a real interest in food and cooking, then you might be wondering what you can do to encourage this spark and help them explore what could become a real passion.
The main thing is to not put any pressure on it, but keep things fun and interesting while helping them learn as much as possible about the culinary world. Here are 5 things you might like to try to keep them excited and inspired:
1. Teach them about the UK’s top chefs
One of the best ways to inspire your child to get cooking is to teach them about all the great chefs we have here in the UK. You can find a whole host of them on the Square Meal UK website, which is also a great place to find new places to eat out!
The list of chefs on the site is really diverse, with both men and women well represented as well as people from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds. So take some time looking through the list and let your child see the different types of people who are out there making waves in the world of cooking. You can then look up recipes from their favourite chefs to try out together at home.
2. Take them out to eat at different places
Trying out different local restaurants and cafes is another great way to encourage your child’s interest in cooking, because they’ll get to see how the pros prepare and present their food.
It’s also a great way to expose them to new foods, new recipes, and new techniques that they can then explore more with you at home.
3. Try new recipes together at home
Once your child has mastered a few recipes you can branch out and try new ones together at home as a way of teaching them new skills and exploring new ideas. Pick up some recipe books or browse a few foodie websites to find some new dishes that they’d like to try, and then pick a day when you won’t be rushed to try one of them out.
There are so many ways you could do this, like cooking a range of breakfast foods to start with, then moving on to lunches and dinners. Or picking a style of cooking or a particular cuisine and exploring that before moving on to something else. Or you can just keep things casual and simply cook any and all new recipes that catch your child’s eye!
4. Let them take the lead in the kitchen
When you’re confident that they have a good foundation in cooking, and know how to do things safely, let your child take the lead in the kitchen.
Let them plan a menu and then be in charge of all the cooking. Depending on how old your child is you might want to be on hand to supervise or help out as their sous chef, but let them run the show to help build their confidence and skills.
5. Keep it all fun
Above all else though, keep all of this as light and fun as you can.
Don’t put a lot of pressure on it and watch out for how your child reacts to the different ways that you gently encourage them to pursue their interest in food and cooking. If they don’t seem to enjoy going out for meals, for example, then give that a miss for a bit, or suggest going out for breakfast instead of dinner next time.
The more fun you can keep it, the more your child will enjoy this journey of discovering the joys of cooking.
So there you have it. 5 ways you can encourage your child to pursue their interest in food and get cooking like the UK’s top chefs. Which idea do you think your family would enjoy the most?
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post