Looking for info on teaching kids to cook? I help you troubleshoot common problems and make it easier, more enjoyable and less stressful for you to cook with your kids!
Hi friends!
I’ve been working hard for a while now to put together this ultimate guide to teaching kids to cook for you guys! If you’ve been around, you know that one of my favorite things to do with my kids is to spend time in the kitchen!
All three of my kids have been helping me in the kitchen since they were about 16 months old and I get tons of questions about how I make this happen! I know a lot of you wish you could do more with your kids in the kitchen but many of you have share roadblocks and hurdles that are keeping you from doing it!
Teaching Kids To Cook
I’m here to make it easier for you! In this post I will address:
- Reducing the mess & increasing your patience
- Age-appropriate kitchen tasks
- Common concerns like kitchen safety, multiple kids, small kitchen
- Easy, forgiving recipes to start with
- My favorite kitchen tools for kids
Mess and Anxiety
By far the most common roadblocks I hear from parents are:
Having the kids help means more time and a bigger mess.
Having the kids help is a huge source of anxiety for me.
First of all, let me say that I understand. There’s no way around it – cooking with kids is MESSY. And it often results in spilled or wasted ingredients, dirty counters and floors and it definitely adds some time to your cooking/baking sessions.
The good news is, there are some things you can do to help minimize the inevitable mess:
- Set up a trash bowl and spoon rest. This immediately gives the kids somewhere to set their stirring utensils to help keep the counter cleaner and a place to throw peels, veggie scraps, egg shells and more without you running back and forth to the trash can nine million times. In this same vein, give them a “kitchen shirt” or apron to avoid tough stains on nice clothes.
- Limit the area. Get a learning tower or place their stool/chair at one end of the counter and remind them they need to stay put until you’re done. Place a high chair mat, an old bed sheet or even a piece of plastic under the chair/counter to catch crumbs. Then just gather it up and take it outside to shake it off when you’re done.
- Size up. If your recipe calls for half a cup, let them fill a one cup measuring halfway instead of a half cup one up to the brim to help minimize spills.
- Include them in cleanup. They need to learn right away that cleaning up is part of cooking. They don’t get to just do the fun part and leave the mess to you. And you might be surprised how much they actually enjoy cleaning up!
