When parents want to cook a meal in peace, they usually ban their kids from coming into the kitchen. Portland Lifestyle & Family suggests a much better alternative – invite your children to participate! Here are some ways how they can benefit from pitching in when it comes to preparing meals:

- They will find out about new foods – the majority of children are picky eaters. However, if you expose them to different foods and involve them in the preparation of the meals, they might get the wish to try it.

- They will learn how to plan – you need to come up with a plan if you want to prepare a meal. Everything starts from the grocery store, so you might think about involving your child in buying the groceries, too. After that, it can help you prepare the dish while being perfectly safe in the kids kitchen helper.

- They will improve math skills – preparing meals also involves carefully measuring ingredients. The ingredients also come as fractions, and you can even start teaching your children addition or multiplication. How? Simply double your recipe for their favorite chocolate chip cookie!

- They will feel confident in the kitchen – this might be especially important for little girls as they are usually more attracted to cooking. If they spend time in the kitchen from an early age, they will learn their way around it and it will be easier for them in their adulthood.

- They will see that it is not easy to prepare a meal – once they see how much effort is put into preparing a dish, they will learn to appreciate a home-cooked meal and the chef.

- They will feel good – yes, it’s true, children love to help! I guess that it makes them feel important. Try teaching them a thing or two and you will notice that they will carefully listen. After a while, they might become a great help in the kitchen.

The important thing to keep in mind is that your child needs to stay safe while in the kitchen. Make sure to keep them away from sharp objects, hot pots and stuff like that. Most importantly, elevate them to the counter height safely by using one of the kitchen helper products available on the market.