We paid a visit to Hudson Valley Seafood in Central Valley, NY for a tour and interview with their in-house master of fish and seafood cooking Chef John Vargo. Read on to hear what Chef Emma learned about fish! And enjoy a great hands-on cooking activity to help introduce kids to cooking and eating fish.

Another post in our Learning Through Cooking series by Educational Psychologist Jamie Krenn. Learn how kids can practice Creativity by inventing their own recipes. Complete with a hands on kitchen activity idea to practice creativity while cooking!

Welcome back to our Learning through Cooking series! One of the many benefits of cooking from a young age is that kids can learn so many different things by being in the kitchen. Psychologist and Nomster Chef Curriculum Consultant Jamie Krenn is an expert in “culinary cognition” and she’s explaining the tangible ways kids learn through cooking. Today we’re going to get crafty and learn how kids can practice art skills in the kitchen. 

Learning through Cooking: Problem Solving. While problem-solving skills are not taught directly in the classroom, they are part of everyday life building skills. Again, it is important to provide children real world examples and some rationale behind their thinking from cognitive, developmental and culinary arts perspectives. Food preparation is an opportunity to apply problem-solving concepts to real-life situations. This skill in the kitchen is a necessity when it comes to working with fewer ingredients, having limited availability of food sources or even restricted time due to everyday life challenges. 

Learning Through Cooking: Fractions. Kids can learn tons of math concepts from cooking, but to begin, I’ll touch on some early mathematics skills – particularly fractions and food! Food preparation is an opportunity to apply mathematics concepts to real-life situations. Math in the kitchen is a necessity when it comes to measuring, dividing and following instructions.