Teaching Your Toddler - in the Kitchen

As a stay at home mother, I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Cooking, cleaning, meal planning and many other activities occur in the kitchen. It may surprise you to know that my toddlers learn in the kitchen as well! The possibilities for education in the kitchen are limitless. You can teach your toddler while you are cooking dinner or putting away dishes. And since they are in your area, they think they are having a blast! By teaching them in a place and a manner that is fun for them and convenient for you, you are able to teach your toddler faster and easier. Here are some great ways to teach your toddler while you are in the kitchen!

Cookie Cutters and Shapes - Allowing your child to "cook" with you makes them feel special. Using this "cooking" to teach is just common sense. By using cookie cutters, your toddler can cut different shapes from many different food items. Show your toddler the shapes and ask them to cut you a specific shape from, say, a piece of bread. They then choose the shape from the cutters and cut out the shape from the bread. And you reinforce the learning aspect by praising them. Tell them what a fabulous square it is, for example. You can have your toddler use cookie cutters on bread, sandwiches, dough for bread, tortillas, cheese slices or even cookies! Make sure that you show your toddler how to press down all the way with the cutter and supervise them at all times.

Colors - Use food coloring to change the colors of different food items. Have your toddler discuss the colors with you. Talk about how cookie dough usually looks, then tell them you are changing the color. Ask them what color they want their cookies to be. Add the food coloring and mix up the dough. They will be delighted with the color changing and will remember the color! You can use food coloring to change the color of most foods. Even use it in water and soak a celery stick in it or a white flower. You can also use the natural coloring of vegetables and fruits to teach your toddler. Ask them to show you specific colors or pick out a specific color to ask them about. Ask them if they can find an orange vegetable in their mixed vegetables! Or, ask them to find a red fruit in the refrigerator. Hands on learning makes an impression on toddlers and helps them to remember their lessons.

Textures - Teaching babies and toddlers about texture is an important step. Learning that different foods have different textures and that that does not make them bad is important. By showing a toddler or baby that the different textures of food are interesting to feel, you also let them know that different textures in their mouths are okay as well. Let your toddler feel the skins on different fruits and vegetables. Let them help you to knead dough and see how the texture changes as it is kneaded more. Allow them to feel the texture of raw meat while wearing a glove and then feel the changes in that texture after it is cooked. Let them feel the texture of pudding by letting them eat it with their fingers. The mess is worth it if it keeps them busy and teaches them something too!

Early Math - One of the coolest things a toddler can learn in the kitchen is math. Beginning math and fractions is easy to teach a toddler in the kitchen. Show them that a sandwich can be cut in two pieces and then in four pieces but when put back together it is a whole. Show them that ½ of a cup of flour can be put into a 1 cup measuring cup and leave room for another ½ cup. Have them help you cut a pizza into equal slices. Have them add together how many tablespoons of water are in ¼ cup. The possibilities are endless for mathematical teaching in the kitchen. And your toddler will love the lessons.

Beginning Science - Science is fun. Or, it can be if it is approached in an interesting way. You may feel that teaching toddlers science is not possible, but it is. They will pick up the concepts even if they do not know it. The chemistry and physical sciences of cooking will give your toddler a good basis for understanding larger concepts as they get older. They may not understand the "rules" of science yet but they will get the basics down. Talk to them about the way different ingredients combine to make a new whole. Tell them you have to add salt to bread to make it taste different. Tell them that baking soda makes their cookies puffy. Show them how baking soda and vinegar combine to make a foam. Show them how boiling water makes steam and freezing water becomes ice. Always use appropriate safety measures and remind your toddler that hot things burn and hurt. But show them the wonder behind the science of cooking.