Cook with Your Kids
November 17, 2008
Wouldn't you know it: now there is even a study that shows that kids who cook are more likely to try a variety of foods. Researchers at Columbia University studied 600 kids from kindergarten to sixth grade. Those who took part in cooking workshops were more likely to eat the foods they had prepared. As one researcher said, "Kids don't usually like radishes, but we found that if kids cut up radishes and put them in the salad, they love the radishes."
This should not come as a great surprise. When you work with ingredients, you get to know them. When you make something, you feel proud of what you have done. The kitchen is no longer a mystery. Strange foods are not something to fear.
There's an added benefit for adults as well: If cooking time becomes a time you share with your children, it becomes less of a chore for you, and one more interest you have in common.
One day they may even cook for you.
Mealtimes Matter Video
from Miriam Weinstein
About Miriam
Miriam Weinstein is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. As a journalist, she has won several awards from the New England Press Association. Her work has appeared in Boston Magazine, the Boston Globe magazine, Hope, and ParentSource. A former staff member for North Shore Weeklies and freelancer for Essex County Newspapers, she writes restaurant reviews and food columns as well as features on a wide variety of subjects. She lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts, with her husband and has two grown children.
The Surprising Power of Family Meals
In her book, The Surprising Power of Family Meals, Miriam Weinstein shows how this basic human institution helps nourish and strengthen our families today.