Home
>
Parenting
>
Cooking With Your Kids Helps Develop Motor Skills for Preschoolers

Cooking With Your Kids Helps Develop Motor Skills for Preschoolers

Did you know that cooking with your kids is a natural way for them to develop motor skills? If you've never looked at cooking that way before, think again. There's a reason why kids have a universal love for cooking - just like for stacking blocks and banging!

Cooking is especially good for preschoolers and here's how:

1. Two year olds are developing large muscles in their arms: They will enjoy stirring and stirring and stirring :-). My two year old is always asking to stir; and her subconscious knows why! At 2 years old, a child naturally imitates circular strokes as part of their normal physical development. So, let them stir at every opportunity.

Here are some ways to encourage arm muscle development through cooking:

stirring: flour, eggs, pancake batter, gelatin making, etc.
scrubbing potatoes and vegetables
cleaning the cutting board: Give them a washcloth and some lukewarm water with the cutting board in the sink. They'll have a blast rubbing the wet washcloth up and down the cutting board to clean it.
pouring from large measuring cups into a bowl

2. Two year olds are developing the ability to turn pages: Another motor skill developed during the preschool age is the ability to turn pages.

So - just pondering here...is it the story they love so much or just turning the pages of the book? Well, actually both. They need the motor development of turning the pages; and the pictures and vocabulary improve their intellectual development.

3. Two year olds love "patting" and "pressing": From being fascinated with "patty-cake" chants at an early age, preschooler's still love to pat and press.

I'm sure you'll recognize your preschooler doing this at the park: scooping up rocks or sand, piling them up, and patting the top into different shapes.

Well, here's some suggestions to bring the "patting" inside:

packing down brown sugar in the measuring cup
gently pressing a fork on top of peanut butter cookie dough on the cookie sheet
patting to level off the top of a cup of sugar
patting and pressing on pizza dough
pressing down with a cookie cutter on rolled sugar cookie dough

4. Two year olds love to dip - and this develops arm muscles skills too!: it takes a lot of coordination to dip! Getting the food in the dip, then moving the arm and somehow getting it into your mouth. If it wasn't difficult, they wouldn't get food all over their face! :-)

So, unless your 2 year old always has a clean face when he or she is done eating, here's some dipping opportunities:

carrots in salad dressing
french fries in catsup
dipping a spoon in the emptied batter bowl to clean out the goodies :-)
dipping fruit in a fruit dip or chocolate (like frozen bananas or strawberries)
dipping chicken or fish in a batter for you to cook
dipping the bread in French toast mix

So, instead of "shooing" your preschoolers and 2 year olds out of the kitchen, let them dive in with these simple tasks that not only give them great pleasure, but help them develop their age appropriate motor skills.

About The Author

Laura Bankston is author of Internationally selling Cooking with Kids Curriculum: "Homeschool Cooking in a Box" and the "Homeschool Cookbook". She currently home schools her three children, maintains home school support websites, and manages their family-owned service business. For information on her curriculum and free home school support services, please visit http://www.homeschoolcookbook.com

http://www.homeschoolcookbook.com

no-contract cleaning service Mundelein ..

In The News:

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

FDA approves first human trial for Paradromics' brain-computer interface that could restore speech for paralyzed patients through neural technology.

New phishing platform QRR targets Microsoft 365 users across 1,000 domains in 90 countries. Learn how to spot fake login pages and protect your accounts.

OpenTable now uses AI to track your dining habits and share insights with restaurants. Learn what data they collect and how to protect your privacy.

Google's discontinued Nest thermostats still secretly upload home data to company servers despite losing smart features, raising serious privacy concerns.

New Android malware NGate steals NFC payment codes in real-time, allowing criminals to withdraw cash from ATMs without your card. Learn protection tips.

DoorDash confirms data breach exposing customer names, emails, addresses after social engineering attack. Learn how to protect yourself from scams.

Concerned about Google's AI scanning your Gmail? Learn how to disable Gemini features that access your emails, Drive files and Chat messages for privacy.

Google warns Android users about dangerous fake VPN apps hiding malware that steals passwords, banking details and personal data from phones and tablets.

Apple's digital passport feature lets iPhone users breeze through TSA checkpoints this holiday season using Digital ID technology at 250+ airports.

A new phishing scam targets family photos with fake "Cloud Storage Full" alerts. Criminals steal credit card information through fake sites. Learn protection tips.

Cooking With Your Kids Helps Develop Motor Skills for Preschoolers

Parenting