Cooking is one of those activities that makes people closer. It’s a great way to strengthen relationships, old or new. Whether you’re looking for something fun to get the family working together, or an activity to build teamwork skills for the office, cooking has the potential to bring your group together with delicious treats and a giant feast.
Competitive or cooperative, pre-selected menu or made up on the fly, any group of people that wants to reinforce their bonds should try cooking together! Here’s how:
Bringing the Office Together
As far as team-building goes, there is an abundance of activities for large groups to choose from. Companies that offer cooking classes often also offer events centered around team building. In Australia for example, Cooking team building xlevents is a Masterchef-style challenge where small teams create their own menu and have their dishes judged against each other, followed by a meal together.
Other companies offer specialized competitions, such as making sushi, BBQ, or homemade pasta. If your team is the right size, enrolling in a cooking class is a great way to get everyone out of the office and on their feet.
Activities like these offer many benefits besides being a ton of fun; skills like time management, collaboration, and communication are all important when participating in a cooking activity.
Group Activities on a Budget
If you’re holding an event on a budget, you can always organize your own competition. Consider having a competition based around cake decorating, pizza making, or who can bake up the best dessert.
You could also have a “secret ingredient” cooking contest, where teams are all given a unique ingredient and then have to make up a dish using that ingredient. Have awards for the best-tasting and the most unique dishes!
Get the Family Cooking
What about cooking with your family? Most people have fond memories of the chaos that comes with cooking a big meal for a holiday, learning to bake cookies with grandma, or recruiting siblings to make breakfast in bed for mom.
When people come together to achieve a common goal, like creating a new dish, it brings them closer together and gives them a sense of shared achievement. Having the reward of something delicious to share afterwards doesn’t hurt either!
A quick web search for “cooking activities for kids” will return millions of results. Simple cooking activities are great tasks for child development, building self-esteem, and creating invaluable quality time. Here are some ideas to get your kids having fun in the kitchen:
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- Practice simple math with an easy baking recipe. Kids will love getting to measure out the flour and count out how many eggs to crack. While waiting for your cookies to bake, help your child organize measuring cups from smallest to biggest.
- Make your own mini pizza! Picky eaters are more likely to eat food they get to help make themselves. Make this an easy weeknight meal with pre-made dough and sauce, and a small selection of toppings for your child to sprinkle onto their kid-sized pizza.
- Make your own homemade butter. All you need is heavy whipping cream and a glass jar. After about 15 minutes of shaking, the butter will start to form! This is a great activity to pair with a loaf of homemade bread.
- Decorating sugar cookies. If you can get your hands on an assortment of cookie-cutter shapes, this is a fun way to get your kids thinking creatively. Mix up a few different colors of icing and decorate cookie people, stars, hearts, and whatever else you can find!
Get Cooking with your Friends and Loved Ones Today
Whether you’re looking for something to bring your office closer together, or you’re searching for a rainy day activity to keep the kids from running wild, cooking is always a fun, accessible way to strengthen bonds and create fond memories!
