Your Child Will Learn
Food and cooking vocabulary
Here’s What to Do
- Describe to your baby what you’re going to cook. Talk about each step as you complete it.
- Show your baby different ingredients and kitchen tools. Name the items and tell your child how they are used. Let your child smell the food (and taste, if appropriate) too!
- Give your child some safe kitchen items to play with like: wooden spoon, baby utensil, or a dishtowel.
- As you show items to your child, ask and answer your own questions about them.
Put PEER Into Action
PAUSE
- Position your baby in a high chair, play pen, or carrier near where you’ll be cooking.
ENGAGE
- “This is a pepper! I’m going to cut it up and then start cooking it in the pan. Do you want to smell it?”
- “What do you think we do with this pot? We put ingredients inside and then put it on top of the stove to get hot. That’s how I cook the vegetables!”
ENCOURAGE
- If your child is interested in a certain object, keep engaging around that object instead of moving on to something else.
- Show your baby how to use one of the kitchen tools and see if they’ll copy you.
REFLECT
- Talk about anything your baby might have been interested in- “Yes! You really liked the smell of that cumin!”
Not Quite Ready
Even if your child doesn’t seem engaged with cooking, they’re still hearing you and learning vocabulary words and information about food.
Ready for More
Invite your child to help with very simple cooking tasks like stirring.
As Your Child Masters This Skill
They will begin to understand food and cooking words
Time to Complete
30 minutes
Materials Needed
Whatever is needed to prepare a meal