Mini Master Chefs

By Natasha Duffin-Jones

When I thought of myself as a mother, before I had children, I envisaged myself teaching my children how to cook, enjoying preparing meals together, and enthusiastically selecting new recipes to try as a family. So far, the reality has been slightly more challenging! I love to cook, or rather I loved to cook before I was cooking for a toddler who finds my cooking positively “yucky”. So I’ve had to find the joy in cooking again for myself and learn to enjoy cooking with my two-year-old as well. 

A taste of home

I grew up learning to cook by watching my parents prepare all of our meals. Growing up in rural England, nearly every meal we ate was prepared by my parents or grandparents as there was only one takeout restaurant in our village (fish and chips, of course—this was England, after all). As with many children, I loved certain meals that my mom prepared and there are my absolute favorites that I always request, even now, when I return home. 

Living away from home, there’s a certain nostalgia about having foods from your home country. I clearly remember receiving my first cookbook as a young child, a baking book in fact, and I spent time slowly working my way through the different recipes and creating a range of different bakes. I was fortunate that my mother always encouraged me to cook and allowed me to hone my skills in the kitchen. As a result, both my brother and I are keen cooks and still routinely enjoy experimenting with food. 

A taste of Thailand

Fast forward to living in Thailand now, and there are stark cultural differences to the slow country life in England. Firstly, in Bangkok almost any food you could ever desire can be ordered through your phone and delivered to your door in less than an hour, which certainly reduces the desire to cook! Secondly, I truly believe that Bangkok has one of the best local and international food scenes you could ever experience, so who would want to miss out on that, especially as Bangkok restaurants are so welcoming of families too? Furthermore, many families have helpers who prepare the family meals instead of the parents. As a teacher in an international school, I observed that when the children role-played in the kitchen, they would mostly role-play restaurants rather than cooking in the kitchen in their homes! 

Cooking with children

So if you do want to cook with your children, where do you start? I found that for me, identifying when I had the time and patience to cook without rushing and tolerate the inevitable mess really helped me to start cooking with my toddler. I also found that instead of planning to cook elaborate cakes or attempting to cook a whole meal, I just stuck to getting her involved with small, simple tasks, such as cracking eggs or cutting up fruits and vegetables. Then, we slowly built things up from there. Now, she likes to look through recipe books and pick out things she wants us to make—mainly cookies and cakes, to be honest! 

Getting started

For younger children who want to be involved in preparing food, I would really recommend getting some safety knives as well as a place where they can prepare food. This could be a learning tower so that they can reach the counter top, or a small table. Other than that, you should have all the things you need in your own kitchen to begin cooking together. 
 

Keeping it simple

There are many simple ways to start cooking. I would start with easy things such as preparing smoothies, as it doesn’t matter how the fruit and vegetables are cut up, and you don’t need to be super accurate with measuring—and you get an instant smoothie! Simple smoothies can also be frozen and used as popsicles. Other simple ideas could be preparing salads or omelets, or making sandwiches and wraps with different fillings. This also gives children control of the ingredients and could lead to them exploring new foods. 

When cooking isn’t an option

As well as making simple meals, children love getting involved in decorating or plating food. There are lots of great small companies in Bangkok who make cookie decorating kits which are good fun, such as Dropdead Gingerbread and Sugar Rush Cookie Co. 

Another way to get the benefits of cooking without cooking a meal is to involve children in preparing sensory play items such as play dough or simple slime. There are lots of recipes online, and you do not need to worry as much about hygiene. Failing all of that, because cooking with children is not for everyone, there are lots of cooking classes for children available in Bangkok. We particularly like the Bumpsy Daisy “Fun With Food” class, and then you don’t have to worry about the mess either! 

Why is cooking with children so important? 

Cooking in itself is clearly a life skill that we all need—even with Grab and Foodpanda so easily accessible! Children also learn so many other skills through cooking, including but not limited to: 

• Literacy through looking at cookbooks and reading recipes
• Math by measuring and timing, as well as converting measurements and even fractions as they double and halve recipes 
• Fine motor skills and hand-strength development, which are needed for writing
• Problem-solving as they have to do things in different ways 
• Scientific inquiry as they learn about the way foods change as they are prepared and cooked 
• Hygiene, such as correct handwashing and effective cleaning
• Creativity in changing and altering recipes to suit different styles and palates
• An artistic eye in making foods look appealing to themselves and others 
• Knowledge of various foods and their properties 

Children just absolutely love to cook and prepare food because it makes them feel like they are a useful and important part of the family. This, in turn, boosts their self-esteem and sense of self. Keep it simple and make it fun, and you'll have mini master chefs on your hands before you know it!

Photos courtesy of the author.

About the Author 

Natasha Duffin-Jones is a mother of two children as well as an early years and primary teacher with a Master of Early Childhood degree. She is also a children’s yoga teacher with her company, Story Time Yoga, specializing in teaching yoga with children’s stories developing literacy and emotional literacy. She also likes visiting different places in Bangkok with her children and documenting their adventures on her Instagram page @bangkokmamaandbaby.