Head for the kitchen to cure end-of-summer blues

Article by: Judy Romanowich Smith , Star Tribune
Updated: August 11, 1998 - 11:00 PM

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Your cupboards are filled with tools to battle end-of-summer boredom and polish rusty school skills.

There's a chemistry lab in your kitchen, reading lessons in your recipe books and math problems in your measuring cups.

Instead of shooing the kids out of the kitchen, invite them in and learn together.

My children are often at my side as I work in the kitchen. When my son Drew was 2, I would perch him carefully in front of me on the countertop so he could help make muffins. He'd dump in the flour, raisins and other ingredients. Our wooden spoons would click as we stirred together and counted the strokes.

Putting the batter in the tins was always Mom's job; licking the spoons was always Drew's job. Later, we'd sample the wares.

Now 8, Drew still likes to help in the kitchen. He reads the recipes himself these days and can teach me a thing or two. He took great delight in preparing at home some of the recipes he learned in a summer school cooking class and letting me be the taster. (I was amazed to find that he was the only boy among 17 students.)

Now, instead of counting together, we add, subtract and explore fractions. I challenge him: If we need 3 cups of flour, how many half-cups is that? How many quarter-teaspoons are there in 2 teaspoons of vanilla? The recipe says it makes 2½ dozen cookies: How many is that? If we eat four of them when they come out of the oven, how many will be left?

My younger children are not left out. They jostle for space as they pull chairs over to the counter where I'm mixing batter or kneading dough. "Can I help?" they ask eagerly as they climb onto the chairs.

Griffin, 5, and Joseffa, 4, have learned to crack eggs -- and how to pluck pieces of shell from batter. They take turns holding the electric mixer, accompanied by Mom's reminder to "keep the beaters in the bowl!"

Variety of lessons

The teaching can start even before you hit the kitchen. Lessons abound in the grocery store. I can give Drew a list of items to find and ask him to choose the cheapest brand.

For younger children, cut pictures of specific items from ads and glue them onto index cards. Give a few to each child so they can find the items as you roam the aisles.

There are a lot of teachable moments: Griffin learns how to select ripe produce and why "low fat" is often the better choice with foods. Joseffa helps count ears of corn until we get a dozen and learns about the food groups.

And all three argue over which watermelon we should buy, testing their negotiation talents and my mediation skills. (Not to mention my patience.)

Shopping does take longer when you involve the kids, but they'll be less likely to misbehave. And that means less stress for everybody.

Back in the kitchen, we follow the advice of the fictional Ms. Frizzle from the "Magic School Bus" books and TV shows: "Take chances! Get messy! Make mistakes!" Flour flies and sugar spills, but we get the job done.

Plenty to do

Next time a child complains about having nothing to do, try one of these experiments. Chances are, the kids won't even realize they're learning. They're just having fun in the kitchen.

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