Learning for Little Ones in the Kitchen

Eli learning how to knead bread dough. 🙂

I never cease to be amazed by my son Eli’s interest in what I consider the most routine and boring tasks!  🙂  He loves to imitate and explore everything around him.  Ever since he was just a baby we have desired for him to be a great lover of learning.  As he gets older I have been contemplating ways that I can encourage him in this quest. 

Studying, contemplating, learning

Ways to Encourage Learning in the Kitchen:

1. While Cooking or Preparing Meals: Talk with your child about what you are doing.  When I am chopping vegetables I often let Eli hold a certain vegetable before I peel it.  We talk about the vegetable, its color, shape, the fact that God made it, etc. 
2. Dishes: I often let Eli help me unload the spoons after they are washed.  He usually watches as I load and unload the rest of the dishes as well.
3. Baking: I just recently have allowed Eli to stand on a chair while I am baking and wow does he ever love it!  He gets to help me add ingredients, stir, and sometimes even play with the dough.  🙂
4. Cleaning: Eli squeals with delight when I get out a broom or mop bucket!  At 16 months he can already hold a dustpan and dump it in the garbage.  My little dustpan boy!  He can also take a cloth and wipe off chairs or Swiffer the kitchen floor area.  I have also found it very helpful that Eli knows how to throw things away.  I often find myself handing him things as I am cooking and say “garbage.”  He walks over to the garbage dumps it in and claps.  How cool is that!   

   

   Eli learning in the kitchen this time last year! I would just prop him up next to me (or wear him) and talk away. I showed him all sorts of things and have to say one of his favorite places was the kitchen! So exciting and interesting.

If you have a very young baby remember that babies are always learning.  Invest in a great baby carrier like a Moby or Ergo.  I find that I naturally seem to “teach” my baby more when I am wearing them.  I still reach for my carrier once a day even though my son is really old enough to stand on a chair.  🙂  I have such fond memories of hanging out in our kitchen growing up and hope Eli has the same one day. 

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