Recently, Children should eat their meals and snacks at home during the outbreak of the covid-19 （新冠病毒）,which means not only adding a new stress （压力）for parents （eg, a lot more cooking!）, but also providing a new chance for parents to teach children cooking skills.

Helping children develop an interest in cooking when they're young can help them have the valuable life skill that they can carry into adulthood. Allowing children to help in the kitchen encourages them to learn where food comes from, and teaches them about nutrition and food safety （e.g., the importance of washing fresh produce with clean water, or hand-washing before and after helping in the kitchen）. Doing so may also help children overcome picky eating by becoming more accepting of new foods. What's more, cooking and baking can be fun ways to spend time while bonding with family.

The key is finding tasks that suit children's age and ability, while still guiding and monitoring their progress. Activities that may attract a preschooler's interest in cooking include helping to wash fruits and vegetables and add toppings to a pizza. Older children can be given tasks such as measuring ingredients into cups or beating eggs. Proper cooking skills to introduce to the children aged between 8 and 10 include planning a family meal or following a simple recipe （食谱）.By ages 10 to 12_} once able to follow kitchen safety rules, many children can prepare more recipes, including meatballs, cookies and cupcakes.

Getting children to take part in kitchen activities may require patience as they learn. That's why it's helpful to have some extra time at home.

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