Visual recipes use pictures (of ingredients, tools, steps) which help children, especially younger ones, understand what’s going on.
They give children a sense of agency and involvement: they can see “oh yes, this is the carrot I should chop” or “these are the spoons I need”, which makes the cooking process more predictable and fun rather than chaotic.
They build practical vocabulary (ingredients, tools, actions) in a real-life context, which is excellent if your child is bilingual or learning a second language.
They support motor skills, sequencing (“first we slice, then we stir”), and cognitive understanding of cause and effect (if I add the egg, it gets mixed, then baked).
Importantly, they make cooking a shared experience instead of just you doing everything!