(WPTV) - Cooking with pre-schoolers may sound like a disaster waiting to happen, but experts say it can help tremendously with one important thing: listening.
"I think the learning process in their brains, that something so fun and easy, is actually a learning lesson," says Chef Erik Pettersen. "The children go step-by-step, and as long as you make eye contact, and you let them know they are with you, they respond so well."
Experts point to success in following step-by-step directions as a way to practice multi-step instructions to make a dish.
"Break it down. Don't give too many directions at once. Model. So have yours, you do it, and then let them do it," says Shannon Visentin, an occupation therapist and owner of Thera-Peds.