Wednesday, January 16, 2013

The Kitchen: Family Time




I'm always in the kitchen, from the moment I come home from work until about after dinner is done. The kitchen to me is a special "hangout" where my hubby and our son, ok.. including our dog as well gather and talk about anything under the sun. It's a cozy spot in the house where we just ask each other ..." so, how was your day?" , that question turns into laughter, our eating nook turns into a place for homework and other crafts.

As I'm in the kitchen, my son loves to interact with me while I'm prepping food or even cooking. However, sometimes I get a little too distracted and I could be adding another cup or teaspoon of an ingredient and my whole dish/baking item would be all wrong.. so... I needed to find a way for him to be busy with something else BUT also still have him in the kitchen to keep me company.

I'd like to share this post I saw from this other blog http://spoonful.com

Below are some great ideas to still interact with your children while you are in the kitchen making meals!

1. Mini Snack Cabinet : I currently don't have this right now in my kitchen (as I'm lacking storage, but that's another blog post - haha) but I do have a huge basket full of goodies on top of my breakfast nook that my son peeks in there to grab a snack.



Snack Station
Let the kids cure their own snack attacks by placing some plastic dishes and snacks in a designated self-service area. Select the items together and put them in a lower cabinet or on a low shelf in the refrigerator so the kids can easily reach them. Add a few rules if you need to such as no eating an hour before dinner. And keep a cloth towel or a roll of paper towels down low as well for self-service cleanup.

 
 
2. Chalkboard Nook: I currently have one next to my pantry but it is a little high for my son to doodle and it's not a really big chalkboard, there's no room to draw big images if needed too, I might have to shop for a better one.
                                                                                         
                                                                      
The Chalkboard Nook
Turn the side of a kitchen island or an open stretch of wall into a doodling nook by hanging a chalkboard at a child's height.While you're busy working, kids can draw or leave funny jokes and messages to one another.
Kid Touches in the Kitchen
Cheers,
Darlene          


 
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