Benefits of cooking:

Cooking and helping in the kitchen with age appropriate tasks is beneficial for children of all ages. Research indicates that this activity promotes the development of cooking skills, facilitates increased responsibility and enhances self-esteem (science direct). Activities in the kitchen allow for numerous opportunities to improve sensory-motor skills, cognition, and emotional regulation; for example, language development, motor planning, fine motor coordination, eye-hand coordination, executive function, sensory integration, sequencing, transitioning and promoting independence to engage in activities of daily living.

Evidence also suggest that children who participate in the process of cooking are more willing to try the food they helped prepare which could be used for non-favorite textures of even to introduce vegetables (nbcot). This could be an easy way to introduce children to different textures to facilitate acceptance of non-preferred foods.

Playing with ingredients is also a multi sensory experience for children. All senses are engaged when cooking. This will be experienced regardless of the age of the child. Hands, eyes, nose, ears and tongue in-tuned for the brain to interpret the outside world via the input being received while touching, smelling, etc...