Teaching Children to Cook

Easy, Fun and Meaningful

I love to have the Princess Cupcake cook with me in the kitchen. Although I definitely could have used her help last night when I burnt the muffins for her school snack – DOH! This article is a guest post by Emily Patterson on behalf of Primrose Schools, (“Day care with credentials you can trust.”) give some great reminders and tips about how to make cooking enjoyable for you AND the little ones who love to help. Thanks Emily!!!

For kids and young children, kitchens are especially attractive. Kitchens are full of sharp objects, hot surfaces and potential dangers especially when adults are working feverishly to put the holiday meal on the table. With fragrant spices and roasted aromas migrating from the stove to every corner of the house, people are drawn to the kitchen, and kids are no exception. When things are bustling in the kitchen, kids can be a huge help. Everyone can use an extra pair of hands while preparing holiday meals for the extended family. Here are a few tips to teach children to cook and kitchen safety while giving them something useful to do during the holidays.
1. In the kitchen, safety should always come first. Before cooking with kids, establish rules about what they should and shouldn’t do in the kitchen, and reinforce good habits like washing hands before cooking and maintaining sanitary food preparation areas. Kids are eager to learn, and the holidays are a great time to teach kids life skills. To prevent accidents, remind kids not to turn on the burners and not to touch pots, pans and items that might be hot. When cooking, make sure pots and pans are out of the way and can’t be knocked down by kids running through the area. Supervision is of the utmost importance. If adults are out of the kitchen, make sure the kids are too.

2. Give kids something to do. Cooking, prep work and simple tasks like measuring ingredients are great learning opportunities that every parent should take advantage of. By engaging kids in useful tasks, parents can concentrate on the things they need to do to put the meal on the table. Young children excel at simple tasks like setting the table, putting napkins in decorative rings and arranging crackers and cocktail forks for appetizers.

3. Inside the kitchen, kids can help measure wet and dry ingredients, learn to properly level flour and leavening agents or discover how to crack eggs and remove all of the shells. In addition to mixing batter and measuring ingredients, kids can learn to make refrigerator cookies, spoon cookies and other holiday recipes. Cookie cutters are really fun for kids, and they can help roll out the batter too. Simple tasks like sprinkling sugar on muffins or decorating gingerbread men are rewarding activities that help kids feel useful.

4. Teach kids new tasks as they grow. Cooking with children is a great way to establish a foundation that advanced skills are built on. Kids can start by buttering pans and cookie sheets before learning advanced techniques like how to flour a cake pan or fold egg whites into a delicate batter. Above all, make these lessons fun. Cooking shouldn’t be a chore. If something goes wrong or the kids make a mess, remember that it’s a learning lesson for kids too.

Before your holiday meal, thank your little helper for working hard, and reward them with the first taste of their culinary creation. The world’s greatest chefs were kids too. These experiences are vital for inspiring the chefs of the future.