7 Ways To Keep Your Kids Occupied While You Cook

After a long day at home running behind your toddler, or after a tiring day at work, when you finally get some time in the evening to sit down, it's already time to cook dinner for the family. Kids can get quite restless when their mommies are in the kitchen cooking. Often, mothers are worried about letting their kids near the kitchen because of safety reasons, and the ruckus that they may create and delay the whole cooking process. But if kids are trained and steered a little towards interesting stuff and activities, it is not really a difficult task to keep the little ones occupied while you cook. Here are a few tips to keep children engaged during the cooking time!

1. Make Kids Feel A Part Of The Process

The more you try to keep children away from something, the more they will try to get in there. So make them feel like they are a part of the chore. Give them responsibilities like washing the vegetables, breaking coriander or parsley, arranging the washed utensils and so on.

2. Let Them Mimic Your Act

Children are bewildered watching their mommies cut, chop, and cook stuff. Why not let them do it themselves. Buy them toy wok, ladles, spoons, or a kitchen set. As you go into your cooking mode, announce that it is kitchen time. Let them take out their play kitchen items and start making flat-breads with play dough.

3. Teach While You Cook

Kids want the attention of their mother and feel left out and lonely when mothers get into the kitchen and pour their attention towards cooking. So here's what you can do: talk, teach and cook! As your toddler learns shapes and colors, ask them to find round vegetable, a red spoon, a rectangular serving dish, and so on. This not only keeps them occupied, but they will also learn new concepts in the process.

4. Water Therapy

Majority of the little ones love playing with water. So use this interest of theirs to keep them occupied during your cooking time. Let them use the sink! Yeah it may mean more cleaning up after your work is done, but it's a great idea to keep the naughty ones engaged. Pile unbreakable dishes made of fiber or plastic, and give them a little dish-wash to clean the plates. Once done, ask them to clean them with a clean cloth and arrange them at a specific place.

5. Label The Kitchen

Put on a serious act when you instruct your tiny tots to use colorful post-it notes and label different parts of the kitchen. For example, let them write door, window, oil shelf, cereal counter, snacks drawer, etc. Show it off to others at home. You will be amused at the kind of labels kids can come up with!

6. Start A Cleaning Regime

Emphasize the importance of keeping the house clean, and complain a little about certain safe parts of the house that need cleaning. As your little one listens to you, give them the grave responsibility of cleaning those places. Hand out a dustrag and tell them to clean it. This will keep the restless ones at work while you cook.

7. Let Them Dab In Paint

Once cooking is done, you will anyway have to wash and clean the kitchen. So why not let your kids have some fun with water paint while you cook? This is a great way to keep the kids closer to you so you can watch what they are up to and also concentrate on your cooking. Give them newspapers or large white sheets and water colors. Let them paint without worry. It's okay even if they spill a little water here and there while the little artists are at work!

These are just some really simple ways to keep your child occupied while you cook. You can come up with more creative ideas and share it with us.
Happy parenting!

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Contributed By: Kriti Mazumdar