Social-Emotional Development: Hands-on cooking activities help children to develop their self-confidence, and by following recipes children are encouraged to be self-directed and independent. 

Physical Development: Fine motor and eye-hand coordination skills develop by chopping, mixing, squeezing, and spreading. 

Cognitive Development: Cooking encourages children’s thinking, problem-solving, and creativity, as it offers the opportunity for children to use the knowledge they have and apply it to activities throughout their day.

Language Development: Cooking offers the opportunity to develop language development by linking it to all other areas, including Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Arts, and Literacy. This is done by encouraging children to talk about their actions, counting, and watching materials change color, texture, and medium.