Encourage Your Child to Stay in the Kitchen

Kids are curious creatures. While you're cooking food or organizing your things in the kitchen, your children are likely to drop by and scour through the cabinets and the pantry shelves. They might also take a peek at what you're doing and join in. 

Being in the kitchen is a great learning experience for kids. The kitchen is an excellent venue for them to develop essential skills. For example, when you cook, you can check your recipe and count the ingredients needed. This activity will help them build their math skills. You are giving them instructions will also teach them how to listen mindfully.

Cooking at a young age will also help your kid develop healthy eating habits. One study found that fifth-grade students who helped with preparing meals made more nutritious food choices. They had a higher preference for fruits and vegetables compared to those who didn't help with cooking.

They can become familiar with things happening in the kitchen. It's also an excellent way for you to bond with them. Thus, it would be best if you made your kitchen as child-friendly as possible. Here are some things you can do to revamp your kitchen and ensure that it can accommodate your child too:

Maximize Your Counter Cabinet Space

It's normal for kids to want to have their Master Chef moment in the kitchen. And instead of chasing them away, you need to let your kid stay and help out or even observe.

While they might not be able to do the cooking itself, allow your child to participate in other steps. For example, let them gather the ingredients while you're cooking. For them to do this, you need to put the condiments you often use in places they can easily reach: the kitchen counter cabinets.

If you use generic glass containers for your condiments, make sure that they're properly labeled. It's also best to group similar things. For example, put all the solid condiments together and put the liquid condiments together.

Keep Certain Tools Away

While some things should be made accessible for your kid to reach, other items should be kept away from them for their safety and your peace of mind.

Kitchen knives and scissors are sharp tools and dangerous for children. Consider storing them inside drawers using drawer docks. You also need to keep appliances with sharp objects, such as blenders and food processors, away. Consider storing these appliances in hanging cabinets to keep them out of reach.

Get a New Floor Coating

You can also upgrade your floor coating. There are many options to choose from, but one that you might want to consider is an epoxy floor coating. It's the most affordable among other possibilities.

Epoxy floor coating is functional. It's even used to coat the floors of meat and poultry processing plants. One practical benefit of this coating is that it's slip-resistant. It's waterproof to some extent. This feature will protect your kid from slipping on accident. An epoxy floor coating is also easy to clean. So it's okay if your child makes a mess.

Get a Step Stool

If you expect your child to spend a lot of time with you in the kitchen, you need to ensure that they're comfortable and easily see you and what you're doing. One way is to get them a step stool that can reach up to the kitchen counter.

A step stool will make navigating things much easier for your kid. Also, being curious individuals, they might touch things here and there before going to the kitchen. But they should not be allowed to grab kitchen tools or food with their filthy hands. A step stool will be a great device to encourage good handwashing habits, which is especially important in a pandemic. The chair will give them easy access to the sink to wash their hands as often as they need to.

Have a Kid's Section in Your Fridge

Assign one lower section in your fridge to your kid. This will be their official "zone" where their snacks will be stored. As much as possible, but healthy options in their snack section. Try placing small containers with easy-to-nibble fruits such as grapes. Or put fruit slices instead, but make sure that you use air-tight containers to prevent the fruits from spoiling.

The kitchen is considered the "heart of the home." So it's only suitable to keep it accessible to children. Having a child-friendly kitchen will encourage your kid to immerse themselves in it.