Cooking Together as "Common Goal Play"
After a few pandemic years when social gatherings were hard to come by, it’s been so nice to see kids able to play with each other again!
Every time I host a class or teach a camp, I feel another wave of gratitude that we’re able to gather together, work on projects and new skills as a group, and have tons of fun. Not only are group classes and activities incredibly important for kids to develop into independent, strong, and socially-comfortable adults, they’re also just downright full of joy.
Are there any ways that we can make playtime even better?
One pattern I’ve noticed recently is that kids can get stuck in a “Parallel Play” pattern. This is where they are playing alongside their peers, but they’re not really interacting, engaging with their friends, or learning any social skills in a significant way. It’s really common when kids are using electronics or tablets in their play-time, which has become more and more normal.
The best antidote to “Parallel Play”? Having a structured but super-engaging hands-on activity to do together. I call this “Common Goal Play”! And cooking is my favorite form of Common Goal Play out there.
Cooking together does more than teach techniques. It teaches children how to play with each other again.
During a cooking session, we demonstrate how to do a new task (like mixing flour and water into a dough), and then each child gets to try the new task. Even though they are working with their own ingredients, they’re all engaged in accomplishing the same task at the same time. By working together towards a common goal, they all get tons of practice interacting, chatting, and relating to each other.
As they work on their recipes and ingredients, they are encouraged to discuss what they notice, ask questions about what they’re learning, and actually do the physical work of cooking all at the same time. Most importantly, they’re engaged in an immersive group activity where they get to flex their social muscles in a relaxed and fun atmosphere.
This can work in any setting:
You don’t have to be in a cooking class or a group drawing lesson in order to help kids get around the “Parallel Play” pattern. The next time your child has a playdate at your house, ask yourself if you have a few minutes to set them up for Common Goal Play.
Here are 3 of my favorite ideas for Common-Goal Play at home:
The Play’s The Thing: Ask the kids to perform a play or a musical for you in an hour.
Game Night: With art supplies, index cards, and a big square piece of cardboard, see if the kids can create a board game for you all to play later that day.
Art-Guessing Game: Let the kids know that they can each make 5 “still life” drawings of things around the house. At the end of the playdate, they give the drawings to you. If you can guess correctly what they drew, they get a reward (like temporary tattoos, stickers, a new pin or patch for their school bag, etc)
It can be really tough to make this kind of activity an “every week” kind of thing. So for the times when it’s too hectic at home to get that “Common Goal Play” going, reach out to me to find out when our next Kids Partake Cooking Camp is coming up!