The Kids Cook Monday!

The Kids Cook Monday initiative encourages families to set aside the first night of every week for cooking and eating together as a family. The Kids Cook Monday provides examples of family friendly recipes and video demonstrations along with a free starter family dinner toolkit- making it easy for families to cook and eat together every Monday.

When kids pitch in making meals, they’re empowered to consider the portions, the vitamins and the nutrients of what they’re eating. And since the family that cooks together eats together, parents can check in with their children during dinner.

Evidence links family dinners to healthier life choices:

• Research from Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse suggests that kids who eat family dinners get better grades in school, develop communication schools and are less likely to try drugs.
• The American Dietetic Association found women who cook regularly consume a more nutritious diet than those who ate out often.
• The American Academy of Pediatrics found kids who ate dinner with their family regularly were less likely to be obese.

Cooking also reinforces skills to help kids succeed like math, teamwork and following instructions. So start your week off right and make Monday family night!

The Kids Cook Monday is a project of The Monday Campaigns. The Monday Campaigns is in association with the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Syracuse Newhouse School of Public Communications.