One of my favorite blogs is called Dinner: A Love Story. It's written by Jenny Rosenstrach, a former editor for the now defunct Cookie magazine.
Jenny advocates sitting down as a family for dinner as often as possible (and she provides simple, delicious recipes to help make that happen).
On her blog, Jenny says:
"(Dinner is) an emotional anchor to our day, the built-in guarantee that we'll put down our Blackberries and our Polly Pockets Shimmer and Splash Adventure dolls and spend a half hour or so hashing out whatever it is that's on the collective family mind."
I wish I could say my own family eats dinner together every night, but there are at least a couple times a week when our schedules don't align. One thing that has always been a priority for me, though, is that when we do cook, our kids often mix, knead and chop (yes, chop) alongside us.
Cooking teaches children a multitude of skills, including math, measuring, cooperation, fine motor skills, problem solving and self-confidence. Most importantly, I believe, it's a chance for adults and kids to bond, have fun and build memories.
With the weather getting colder and the holidays approaching, it's prime time to spend more evenings inside and let kids help in the kitchen.
Do you write a blog and have some thoughts on this topic? The About.com Parenting Channel is hosting a blog carnival on the subject of "kids in the kitchen," and I'd love to include a link to your post on this subject.
You can read more about what a blog carnival is and read the blog carnival rules. Here's a link to some of our past blog carnivals, too.
In a nutshell, you write a blog post that's somehow related to the topic, then e-mail me a link. Once all the submissions are in, I'll write a blog post with brief descriptions of each one and links to the various sites. Please include a link back to this post in your post so that other bloggers can take part, too.
The deadline for submitting links to me is Nov. 1, and the roundup of links will go up shortly after that date.
Interpret the kids-in-the-kitchen topic however you like! You could write about memories of cooking when you were young, offer safety tips or share a holiday recipe that would be easy for children to make ... whatever!
Thanks for participating.
Thanks for sharing the DALS site. It’s just what I’ve been looking for. I shared this post with my Moms group, I’m sure they will love it too!
What an awesome idea! I am definitely an advocate of Cooking with Kids in the Kitchen…that’s actually the title of a section of the activities page of my website
My new parenting book contains 100 child-friendly healthful recipes, as well. I’ll be sure to contribute a post for the blog carnival and I’m looking forward to reading the contributions of others…when you are involved with young chiildren, you can always use fresh and new ideas!
Susan Adcock suggested I write a blog for your Kids in the Kitchen carnival and I did. Unfortunately, I am unable to get the email link above to work, maybe because I am using Firefox. Anyway, here is the link to my post if you want to check it out. http://catpurry.blogspot.com/2010/10/halloween-food-and-fun-with-children.html
Thanks for your interest, Pat, Klay and Vivian! The blog carnival roundup will go up in a few days. In the meantime, it’s not too late for others to leave a link here or send me an e-mail with a link to their kids-in-the-kitchen blog post. kidsparties.guide@about.com