Tips for Cooking with Children

Why to Cook with Children

In addition to quality time together, there are many good reasons for teaching your children to cook, including the fact that finicky eaters may be more likely to eat food they’ve prepared. Other reasons include:

• Whether they become latchkey kids or college students on their own for the first time, cooking may be a skill your children need one day to ensure healthful, inexpensive meals.
• Cooking may make ‘dumb school stuff’ more real for children. It’s easier to be interested in subjects such as math, science and history when you can see how they relate to daily life.
• Planning and preparing meals together can help you instill good eating habits in your children.
• Cooking can help your children learn the importance of following directions, being organized and accepting responsibility.
• Food experiences develop the senses with colors, textures, shapes, smells and tastes, allow your children to be creative and offer a chance to practice eye-hand coordination.
• Cooking gives children a chance to feel grown up and a chance to succeed.
• You just may end up with a tasty treat!

Tips for Cooking with Children

For a rewarding cooking experience, follow these tips:

• Until children can manage on their own, be sure you (or another adult) supervise their kitchen experiences.
• Choose a good time when you have the time and patience to deal with potential spills and your children’s impatience.
• Carefully choose recipes so the most likely outcome will be a success. Even when you use a children’s cookbook, consider your own children’s ages and skill levels. Have your children do the steps you’re confident aren’t beyond their ability.
• Give directions and also demonstrate so your children can see what you mean.
• Make sure your children can reach the table or counter easily and that cooking equipment is readily accessible.
• Explain how to use appliances and the whys behind rules. For example, never unplug an appliance when your hands are wet because you can get a shock; don’t put your fingers in the toaster to get the bread because the toaster can burn you; always cover the blender so food won’t spill out the top.
• Make clean-up part of the lesson.
• Let your children have fun with their food. It’s not the end of the world if the blueberries for your muffins end up decorating a smiley face sandwich.

What to Teach Children about Cooking

It’s best to start out slowly with only the easy parts of a recipe. As your child grows and develops skills, you can add more lessons. Eventually, you may be able to teach your child all the following:

• How to make healthful food choices. For nutrition advice, see MyPyramid.gov.
• How to ensure food safety. Include lessons on cleanliness, especially washing hands well, and properly chilling and cooking foods. For food safety information, see FightBac.org or BeFoodSafe.org.
• Careful reading of recipes and making sure you have all the equipment and foods you need.
• How to use knives and other cutting tools – including egg slicers, garlic presses, graters and vegetable peelers – properly to slice, chop, dice, mince and peel.
• How to measure liquid and dry ingredients.
• How to combine ingredients when mixing, stirring, beating, blending, creaming, whipping and folding.
• Kitchen safety pointers for heating appliances, including using potholders, making sure pots and pans don’t tip and using only microwave-safe dishes in the microwave.
• The differences between simmering and boiling. Also teach how to bake, barbecue, boil, broil, grill, poach, roast, steam and stir-fry.
• How to use refrigerator/freezer, oven and rapid-read thermometers and how tell when foods are done.
• Refrigerating leftovers and cleaning up.