Like most children, I loved nothing more than a snow day when I was growing up. However, I didn’t spend the day on a sled or curled up in front of the television. A kid obsessed with cooking, I loved that an unexpected day off from school meant rolling up my sleeves and tying on my apron.
If you find yourself home with restless young ones on a snow day (or a weekend or a holiday, for that matter), might I suggest a kitchen project? Not only can you end up with something you’d very much like to eat (more on that soon), but you’ll also have some nice time together, away from screens of any kind. In addition, you’ll have a chance to talk about math (what are cup measures if not fractions personified?), science (why we want baking powder in a muffin but not in a brownie) and, of course, history and culture (let’s trace that Parm). Cooking also invites conversations about the environment, health, nature and even economics.
My favorite reason to cook with kids is less academic and much more emotional. I owe any and all my self-confidence to my love of cooking. When I was growing up, I regularly got to create things with my own two hands, share them with my family and bask in their enjoyment. If that isn’t a sure recipe for instilling a strong sense of one’s own capabilities, I don’t know what is.
These days, anytime I get to cook with someone younger than myself, I always start by asking them what they like to eat. Cooking, then, is a way of being in touch with yourself. How many other activities allow you to identify exactly what you want and then provide all the tools to manifest it?