Messy Kid’s Kitchen Built Confidence

Messy Kid’s Kitchen Built Confidence

April 28, 2013 Child Wellness 0 Comments

When Darion was doing homeschooling, he had to learn the basics, of course, but I always had a strong bias that children need to express what THEY want to learn about, too. It gives them validation and a sense of worth to be asked what they think is interesting and stimulating. One of the activities Darion loved was to create new recipes in the kitchen. Let’s call it Kitchen Chemistry Messes 101. It was one of my joys in parenting young children.

Being young and short, he needed a good, steady stool. We would gather the equipment and tools together he thought he might need. Then he would point out and ask for ingredients. Often he would not have any one thing in mind he wanted to cook, he just wanted to experiment with substances to see how they worked together and if they would make something edible. He would pour and toss, mix and chop. He was partial to the magic of baking in an oven. So many times lumps and bumps would be combined into something akin to a loaf. Not any particular kind of loaf. Just something loafish.

Everyone would be invited to taste the loafish something after it baked. Interestingly enough, sometimes it wouldn’t taste too bad even though it wouldn’t be good. But what appreared to be important to Darion was the fact that he could CREATE FREELY. He was soooo happy creating, working with real ingredients and having the satisfaction of maneuvering his loafishness through several stages from counter to oven to oven rack. He would often comment on what he had used and how it was different from using something else in the last loafish adventure. Did we ever really enjoy eating a loafish? No. Neither did he. But he truly enjoyed what he learned IN HIS WAY with Kitchen Chemistry Messes 101. Now, at 29, he enjoys being creative in the kitchen, minus the loafish! Superkid Power was baked to perfection and lives on today!




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