Teaching Your Child How To Read Recipes

Teaching your child how to read and follow through a recipe can be a very fun and rewarding activity.  Not only will it teach him to go through the cooking process, it will also teach him many concepts about counting, volume, sizes, units of measurement, weight and fractions.  It improves his comprehension and ability to concentrate and follow instructions.  Following a recipe also improves his fine motor coordination skills as he will be doing delicate motor skills such as measuring, pouring, stirring and beating eggs.

Kids actually enjoy helping you out in the kitchen.  Kitchen utensils (provided they are safe) feel much like toys to them.  Measuring, beating, kneading and pouring would seem like playtime.  Finally, eating what they themselves cook is such a reward to them.

Here are age-specific tips on teaching your child how to read recipes:

Preschool

Most preschool kids may not be able to read letters or numbers.  You may have to read the recipe out loud and just help them identify a cup and half a cup, a tablespoon and a teaspoon and the basic fractions such as ½ and ¼.  This may also be a good time to teach him how to count from 1 to 10 by counting with him the number of eggs for this cake or the number of grapes for that jelly.

As for motor skills, it may be unrealistic for you to expect your preschool kid to crack an egg but you can let him stir the dough, cut it into shapes with a cookie cutter or add in some nuts.  You may have to chop the vegetables yourself and grate the cheese but you can let him tear up the lettuce and sprinkle the cheese.  You may not be able to trust him to work with an oven but you can let him set the temperature or the timer.

Employ common sense in looking for things that your preschool can safely do in the kitchen and he will love you for it.

Older Kids

By the time your kids get older, they can read the recipe and understand units of measurement and fractions.  They can begin working on their own but under your supervision of course.  Their motor skills are now well-developed so that they can begin working with knives, ovens, microwaves and simmering pots.

This may be the right time for you to encourage your child to do the cooking himself while you just watch and troubleshoot.

• Choose a simple recipe with no more than 6 ingredients.
• Let him read the recipe and gather all the necessary ingredients and materials.
• Let him do all the steps while you just step in if he needs some help.
• Let him serve the food on the table.
• Brag to the family about his cooking.  This will boost his confidence and his love for cooking.