A kitchen is every child’s earliest playground, a place that family life often centers around, and so it’s only natural that kids naturally gravitate to cooking as one of their earliest forms of play.
Every parent knows that it’s not easy having a toddler help out in the kitchen, but if you look past the schedule and see beyond the mess, you understand why kids love to cook. Here is a look at 5 powerful reasons why kids almost universally love to bake.
Even the Mess is Delicious
Mixing and whisking make baking an instant draw for kids, and even kids with texture aversion can’t help having a taste of all that delicious batter. Baking is a tactile activity that kids naturally take to and it in turn helps them develop fine motor skills. I mean honestly, where else can they break an egg and get away with it, right?
Spending Quality Time with a Parent
With the shift to nuclear families, and with modern lifestyles taking their toll, kids often find that they don’t get enough quality time with their parents. With screen time taking up so much of our lives, literally any activity offers a great opportunity to bond and connect, and this is especially true of baking. Baking takes kids back to a simpler time where helping out meant spending time together doing a chore.
Now more than ever, with microwaves practically everywhere, baking is a whole lot more accessible to families, making it a perfect opportunity for parents and kids to unite and spend time together.
Expressing Themselves Creatively
Imagination is what differentiates kids from grown ups. Children love to explore their creativity, and baking is a great medium for them to express themselves. Whether it’s star shaped cookies, or doodles on a cake, nothing is ever ruined as long as it still tastes great, and this gives kids a sense of freedom few other activities can compete with. Baking offers ample room for their creativity, and this is another reason why they love it so much.
Feeling a Sense of Accomplishment
Childhood can be a confusing time when there is often no sense of control. Your parents decide a lot of things for you, and while that’s great, children also need to feel a sense of accomplishment in order to feel fulfilled.
An activity such as baking, lets kids feel exactly that. At the end of all that mixing, lies the result of all their efforts. Seeing tangible results of their success in the form of a cake or a cookie is a great way to reinforce this sense of accomplishment in kids.
It is activities like this that kids naturally gravitate towards, because every accomplishment gives them a boost in confidence and leaves them with a sense of fulfillment.
It’s an Expression of Their Love
Being able to do something for someone else is a great feeling, and as kids learn all about sharing, baking is a hands-on way to share those feelings of love towards others. Whether it’s baking for a parent or for friends, baking allows kids to put others first. Baking helps kids discover the joy in sharing.
Kids love to bake, there’s no doubt about that, but it’s not always easy for parents to arrange for all the ingredients. Especially parents with no baking experience or parents who are hard pressed for time find it hard to help their kids engage in this activity. It is for such parents that easy home baking kits like those from Orange Figs exist. These kits come with all the dry ingredients needed for baking, along with a fun and easy to follow recipe that makes baking a delightful activity that parents and kids can enjoy together.