Kids used to grow up helping in the kitchen. Now, many barely see their kitchens in use. We lost something important when we stopped cooking with our kids. We lost a fun way to help them grow spiritually.
For those of you terrified of the kitchen, you don’t have to get fancy. Buy a roll of those slice and bake cookies, some sprinkles and if you really want to have fun, a few tubes of decorator icing in different colors. Sugar cookies are best for decorating. You can find cookie cutters online or in craft stores like Michael’s for decent prices. Or borrow them from your mother or grandmother.
As you’re baking and decorating with your kids, there are five important benefits they are getting.
- An opportunity to talk to you when you are really listening to them. There’s something about kitchens that get people talking. Really pay attention to what your kids have to say – even if it seems silly and unimportant to you. They are watching how you respond and whether or not they share important things with you in the future will depend largely on how you react when they share things baking cookies.
- Patience. Pulling out the ingredients, mixing them together, rolling out the dough, cutting the shapes, waiting for them to bake, decorating them – it’s not a quick process. They (and possibly you!) will need to practice patience to have yummy cookies to eat at the end.
- Perseverance. If you pull out the ingredients, but don’t mix them together, there won’t be any cookies. It takes perseverance to see the project through to its delicious end. This is especially true if mistakes are made and things have to be done again.
- Teamwork/taking turns/sharing. Christianity is not done in a vacuum. Even Jesus had his Apostles. To be productive Christians, your kids will have to learn to work with others – including difficult siblings. The finished cookies can be a great motivator for working through sibling issues so the cookies can be baked and eaten!
- Serving others. Most recipes for cookies make more than a dozen. Why not take some of those extra cookies and gift them to someone who will enjoy them? Your kids may want to make artwork or write notes to go with the cookies. Delivering them personally also gives them an opportunity to provide companionship to someone who might be lonely.
Have fun with it. Do it more than once a year. Try cooking other things together. You may just find the kitchen is your family’s favorite room in the house!