Cooking with Kids

Communication

In our fast-paced lives, family communication often falls to the wayside. Cooking together offers a great opportunity to slow down and enjoy each other's company. It provides a relatively stress free environment for sharing and conversation. Even better, cooking time includes plenty of laughs built right in. No matter how the food turns out, you are guaranteed to be making memories. Whether your child is four or fourteen, time spent in the kitchen is time to be cherished.

Education

In addition to be being fun, quality time together, cooking with kids is also educational. While cooking, kids can put many academic skills to real-life practice. Some of the skills emphasized during kitchen time may include:

• Nutrition
• Reading
• Measuring
• Converting measurements
• Adding fractions
• Following directions
• Learning about other cultures (through cooking foreign foods)
• Turn-taking
• Motor skills

How Can Kids Help in the Kitchen?

Kids of all ages enjoy working in the kitchen. Even toddlers and preschoolers can "help." Although younger kids generally create more work for the parent as they cook, it is a good idea to involve them as much as possible. While you probably don't want them helping cook an elaborate meal for company, young children can realistically help create their own lunches, snacks, and desserts.

Preschoolers

Only you know what your child is capable of, but in general preschoolers can:

• Assemble ingredients and tools
• Pour in prepared liquids
• Break eggs (or pour in an egg that has been broken in a bowl)
• Add dry ingredients
• Stir, mix, or beat ingredients
• Clean and tear salad greens
• Create their own pizza (with a store-bought crust)
• Decorate their own cupcakes, cakes, or cookies
• Spread peanut butter, cream cheese, whipped cream, and other easy-spread items
• Pour prepared, cooled mixes into a pan
• Cut soft items, such as bananas, with a dull knife
• Set the table
• Help clean up

School-Age Kids

School age kids can do all of the above, in addition to:

• Reading the directions and recipes
• Measuring liquids and dry ingredients
• Dealing with cooking-related math problems
• Supervised cutting
• Peeling vegetables
• Boiling water
• Operating the microwave
• Opening cans
• Stirring items on the stove
• Placing pans in the oven
• Setting kitchen timers
• Serving the food

Kitchen Safety

Kids must be taught the rules of the kitchen from an early age. The kitchen presents many opportunities for harm, but most cooking-related accidents can be avoided by following a few simple safety steps:

• Children should never cook without supervision
• Always use oven mitts or potholders
• Young children should not be near the stove or oven
• Kids must be taught the correct way to handle knives and can openers
• Items spilled on the floor must be cleaned up immediately to avoid falls
• Always turn pot and pan handles toward the back of the stove so that young kids can't pull them down
• When possible, use only the backburners, so toddlers aren't tempted to grab the flame or pots
• No running, jumping, or rough play in the kitchen

In addition to these rules, hygiene and food safety guidelines should also be followed. The most important thing to teach young cooks is to wash hands frequently: before, during, and after cooking. They should especially wash after handling raw poultry or meat.

Fun Extras for Cooking with Kids

You can use your "regular" cookbooks and cooking utensils when cooking with kids, but kid-sized tools make the experience even more magical. The following make great gift ideas:

• Children's Silicone Baking Set
• Kids in the Kitchen Color Coded Cooking System for Kids (No Bake)
• Children's Baking Kits
• Cooking Rocks! Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals for Kids
• Cooking with Kids (book)
• Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes: A Cookbook for Preschoolers and Up