I’m cooking….but what can baby do?

In the last few months my little one has transitioned from baby to basically a little man. He went from laying in his little seat and swing, to using a bouncy seat to now just walking everywhere!

It has been incredibly exciting watching his transitions and I am so proud of him! Even though this is exciting, I still have to get things done! I can’t always be playing on the floor or helping him discover new toys.

That brings me to when I am cooking or doing dishes in the kitchen. I try to plan my kitchen work around when he is going to eat so he can be in his high chair, I can entertain him and he can be a happy little man.

The best plans don’t always work though. Do they?

So I’ve discovered that by using things that are ALREADY in my kitchen he can learn so much!

Here are a few things I have done and will continue to do so that he can have fun and also I can get things done in the kitchen with him!

• Pick a Cupboard: this might be scary for some parents, having their child given the ability to open a cupboard door, and pull things out, however it has been such a learning tool. I have been able to show my little one how to open a door, close it gently, pull things out and play with them and put them away after. We have baby locks on 99% of our cupboards, especially those with cleaning supplies in them or heavy objects. Yet, (we have a TINY kitchen) I have one cupboard that no matter what I am doing I can see what my child is playing with and he has discovered so many fun things all on his own this way.
• Let them Play: maybe it sounds obvious? One of the biggest things that helps with imagination and development is allowing children to discover things on their own. The first time he played with bowls on the floor, he got them out and he stacked a few, smashed another few together to hear the sound and just played with them. Part of me probably didn’t love the smashing them together sound but he wasn’t hurting anything, was enjoying it and he found out that some fit inside others.
• Do not be Afraid to say No!: if your child is running over pick up something that they definitely should not be playing with be sure to let them know. Help them understand when something is not safe for them. At the same time, it’s been freeing to let my child make discoveries and play on his own for little chunks of time. I have the ability to make him feel bad for playing a container or spoon or I can encourage him to discover uses for them.
• Use your Words: one of the best things that you can do for your little one while they play is to comment on what they are doing. “I see you playing with a bowl! That bowl is blue!” Something as simple as those sentences can help build your child’s vocabulary!

Now, back to what I mentioned before. If you aren’t comfortable letting your little one make discoveries and you don’t have only items that are safe for them to play with DO NOT let them play in the kitchen with you.

My kitchen is super small which allows me to always have him within arms length and never out of my sight. I still watch him like a hawk and often times have to pick him up and show him what I’m doing, washing dishes, loading dishwasher, putting things away. I never hold anything sharp or leave out anything sharp while he is in kitchen. There is no safety in things that are hot or sharp being available for a little one to stumble upon.

The last fun little idea is to give them a fun challenge during snack time. We practiced putting one of his blueberries under a silicone measuring cup, then him lifting off cup to eat it. He laughed and was so excited, all the while I knew this was building his skill set. He also on his own discovered that a larger measuring cup would sit on top of and “hide” the smaller cup and he could repeat what I did with the blueberries on his own with just the cups.

Little ones are so much fun, the possibilities of what you can use to help them discover their world are endless, just start somewhere!