Turning your child into a sous chef is easier than you think. Teach her a few simple tasks and who knows? You could be training the next Barefoot Contessa or Bobby Flay.
Before you begin, take control of your kitchen with these simple steps:
1. Have patience. Depending on your personality, cooking with kids can be fabulous fun or terribly tortuous. Just remember that cooking with kids isn’t about perfection, it’s about rolling up your sleeves and having fun. Expect the kitchen to get messy, but remember: you’re teaching your child life skills about nutrition and cooking. If that doesn’t help, just breathe and count to ten – hey, math skills!
2. Start with a clean kitchen. Empty the dishwasher and fill the sink with hot, soapy water. This is great advice whether you’re cooking with the under-four-foot crowd or on your own.
3. Set out the pots, pans, measuring cups, etc. If you need it, set it out. That way, you don’t have to go hunting around for the cheese grater while your child balances dangerously close to the stove, unattended.
4. Prep first, on your own. This is especially important if your sous-chef-in-training has a short attention span.
5. Designate a trash bowl, to catch all the scraps and bits.
Now that your kitchen is kid-ready, it’s time to get cooking.
1. Start with a trip to the bathroom. An empty bladder and clean little hands are a must.
2. Make something your kid likes. Why teach him to make chicken cordon bleu if he really wants mac and cheese? There’s comfort in the familiar.
3. Allow them to play with their food: rip the parsley to shreds, separate pasta shapes or dig through a bowl of flour. Cooking with fresh herbs encourages your child to experience new smells, from rosemary to basil to mint and beyond.
4. Teach your child how to measure ingredients, an essential foundation of cooking. Added bonus: sneaking in a math lesson.
5. Assemble the dish. Whether it’s tacos or hamburgers, giving your child control over what she’s eating encourages independence from an early age.
Cooking with your kids is a fun way to spend time together. And even if your child never makes it to Top Chef, you’ve given her skills for life.
I couldn’t agree more (especially on the skills part)! I used to cook with my mom all the time – loved every minute of it.
Cooking with our moms is such a great memory, I’m hoping my daughter continues to enjoy our kitchen time.
If that is cheese you have in the food processor, I really need to get myself one!
Jolene it’s my favorite gadget, I use it all the time!
This is great. I love the picture of little GG’s hands. Sometimes a glass of wine for the teacher helps!
My mother knows her stuff – wine DOES help! Love you Mom!
Just stopping by from SITS, 31dbbb. Great list post – and oh so true. I love all of your tips for cooking with kids. I have an 11 year old Jr. Chef who is fantastic in the kitchen and is very creative and I have a two year old sous-chef-in-training and I am trying to embrace patience when cooking with her. In about 9 years she will probably out shine her big brother and mama in the kitchen.
Have a great day! If you get a chance stop by http://kitchenandkids.com
Hi Amy thanks for stopping by! I’m excited to check out your blog. My little one is a picky eater so having her cook with me is my attempt to introduce her to where food comes from.
So true Lisa! My boys love cooking – and we have started a tradition of cooking and decorating birthday cakes. Too many sprinkles/smarties/candles are NEVER enough…
So cute – is there a kid alive who doesn’t think more is better when it comes to sugar?!
My mom did not cook and I was only allowed to sit and watch my gma. I still loved it but I didn’t get the how to’s.
Your post is so enlightening, I mean it really breaks it down for me. Terribly tortuous is why I avoid having my kids in the kitchen. I’ll have to prep on my own first and i love the empty bladder clean hands point. These are such aha ideas I feel very silly for not thinking of them myself. But that’s why you’re here right? .)
Thanks! I didn’t cook with my grandmother but did with my mom – she was always up for something new in the kitchen. We made butter one time, something I still remember. Maybe I’ll give it a try with my own little one.
I love it! Seems I have more patience with my grands in the kitchen then I did my own daughter…..or maybe it just the time factor…..having more time as a “NeeNee” than Mama….
Thanks for stopping by!
Great advice! I cook/bake with my children all the time.. something that I didn’t get to do as a child with my mom. I am baking cupcakes with my 2 and 4 year old daughters today 🙂
Sounds like a fun afternoon!
This is such a great post. I don’t have kids, and I never cooked much at home, so had to learn the hard way! Still not very good at cooking!
Helen – thanks for stopping by! Cooking is something you can definitely learn, especially since you love books! That’s what started my cookbook collection actually, that, and my mom’s own obsession with collecting cookbooks when we traveled.
What a great post! I have 2 small kids and it can be a challenge sometimes to involve them although I love share the cooking experience. I love your list – even though I know them in my head but it’s hard to execute. I’m going to print this out and put it in the kitchen!!! LOL.
Hi Nami – I agree – it’s easy to remember, hard to execute. I have it printed out as well 😉
Great tips! I’ll have to remember these if and when we have kids!
Great post. Also get your children to design the dinner menu and prepare a shopping list for a month. Take them shopping and let them pick a vegetable and fruit to start and then more complex ingredients as they get older. Start allocating a budget to them so they can buy too. Use them to get your kitchen organized and clean. That is what I call out sourcing. 🙂 Buy a nice cook book and leave it around the house. They will get really excited about good food when they see pictures.