When it comes to exploring the world of food and culinary arts, the FREE Tasty app has taken center stage. For parents, this isn’t just an app – it’s an opportunity. An opportunity to bond, to teach, interact, and to enrich your child’s language and communication skills as well as support their independence. Dive into our review of the Tasty app and discover how it can enhance the parent-child time as well as enrich your child’s speech, language, communication and life skills.

Key Features of the Tasty App

1. Extensive Recipe Database: From appetizers to desserts, Tasty offers an array of easy-to-follow recipes that cater to different preferences, cuisines and dietary requirements.
2. Step-by-Step Video Guides: Visual learners rejoice! Every recipe comes with video instructions, making it easier for you and your child to follow.
3. Personalization: Customize your recipe feed based on preferences, dietary restrictions, and allergies.
4. Save & Organize: Easily save your favorite recipes and organize them into personalized cookbooks.
5. Ingredient List, Nutrition information, & Shopping Feature: Prepare for your cooking session with a generated ingredient list and nutrition information and in some locations, order the needed ingredients from the store directly through the app.

Shared Parent-Child App Use

Parents and children engaging with the Tasty app together can be a delightful bonding and learning experience. Here’s some ideas how:

• Learning Together: Pick a new recipe each week and discover new cuisines, techniques, ingredients, and tastes together.
• Hands-On Experience: While following a recipe, allow your child to be in charge of certain steps, boosting their self-confidence, independence, and processing and execution of directions.
• Discuss & Plan: Make meal-planning a shared activity. Discuss choices, tastes, nutrition, and preferences.

Strategies for Language Enrichment

1. Descriptive Language: Describe flavors, appearance of food, textures, and processes. For example, “This sauce is tangy, can you taste the lemon?”
2. Vocabulary Building: Introduce new words related to cooking, such as ‘sauté,’ ‘marinate,’ and ‘whisk.’
3. Follow Instructions: Encourage your child to read the steps out loud. This improves comprehension and sequential thinking.
4. Storytelling: Discuss the origin of recipes such as, “Did you know pizza comes from Italy?”
5. Feedback & Expression: After cooking, discuss likes, dislikes, and what could be done differently next time.

When & How Long to Use the App

• Weekend Bonding: Set aside an hour or so each weekend for a Tasty cooking session.
• Quick Meals: For quick recipes, spend about 20-30 minutes on a weekday evening.
• Special Occasions: Take longer durations for festive meals, possibly a few hours.

FAQs

1. Is the Tasty app child-friendly?
   • Yes, the app is designed with user-friendly navigation. However, parental participation and supervision is highly recommended.
2. Can we adjust serving sizes on the app?
   • Absolutely! The app allows you to adjust recipes based on the number of servings you require.
3. Does it cater to dietary restrictions?
   • Yes, you can set dietary preferences like vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, etc.
4. Are there non-English recipes?
   • While primarily in English, Tasty does feature global cuisines with English instructions.
5. Can kids use the app alone?
   • The app is user-friendly, but for safety reasons and to maximize the language experience, it’s best used with an adult.

Additional Resources

1. Tasty – Food videos and recipes
2. Cooking With Young Children | Extension | University of Nevada, Reno (unr.edu)
3. Cooking Activities for Kids: 4 Amazing Developmental Benefits – Tip-Top Brain Blog (tiptopbrain.com)
4. 16 Benefits of Cooking in Early Childhood – Empowered Parents
5. Teaching Kids to Cook (eatright.org)

Summary/Conclusion

The Tasty app, while primarily a culinary guide, offers boundless opportunities for parents and children to bond, build communication skills, learn, share ideas, and have fun. Its user-friendly interface and easy step-by-step video instructions combined with the wide variety of recipes offered, pave the way for linguistic development and precious family moments. So, the next time you’re looking for a meaningful activity to do with your child, remember that the FREE Tasty app is just a click away.