At What Age Should Anyone Learn to Cook?

Jenny Heart
Children can learn simple cooking skills around the ages of 4-5 years old. Parents can let their children give them ideas. Children love to be creative especially when it comes to making cookies. Let them help bake sugar cookies. They're small so don't ask too much. Let them stir for a while and then thank them and tell them you'll let them know when you're ready to start icing the cookies.

Children can learn creative ideas while making shaped sugar cookies. When letting a child participate in making the simplest of recipes this helps children grow in creativity and imagination.

Baking cookies are a great way to help a child want to be more active. Pouring chocolate chips, adding their favorite peanut butter to a recipe, starts many ideas coming to their minds. They may want to decorate the top of a cookie with a smiling face. They may decide to add ears that are made with licorice. Let their imagination grow to their greatest potential. The adult who is sharing in this creative activity needs to be the one who places the cookies in the oven. Children need to be taught that touching any hot surface is only done by adults. Teach them all about safety.

Children crave knowledge. Read and share ideas from the,' American Heart Association Kid' Cookbook Edited by Mary Winston, EdD. R.D. It has a special message from James H. MolleM.D. Illustrated by Joan Holub. This is a cookbook that helps children understand and learn to enjoy the wonders of making fun easy cooking creations. This cookbook helps young cooks choose recipes that are suitable for their age.

At what age should anyone learn to cook? The answer is as soon as someone can give them an exciting reason to want too.

Cooking doesn't have to mean completing a five course meal. Cooking should be gradually introduced to a child, after; close consideration about his age is considered. If a child is four years old, let the child try icing a few of those cooled yummy looking cookies. This helps a child develop a sense of design. When this happens a child's creativity will be craving more cooking adventures.

Children love to shape play doh. Find recipes that call for shaping skills. Remind them of their great shaping skill ability and watch the fun begin. Always supervise small children. When a child learns to shape things there's no end to his capabilities.

Parents need to give their children encouragement to want to do as many creative things as possible. Cooking can be a great way to help a children express themselves. If parents don't give their children incentive they'll probably just want to eat those already baked cookies, go watch television and stay in their room all day. Parents can encourage children at any age. For instants, a father could taste one of his children's cookies and beg them to make some more. Now everyone is smiling.

Learning to cook can start out by learning how important little things really are. Children can start out by learning the correct way to set a table. When a meal is over teach your children the importance of cleaning up afterwards. When children feel self pride in doing kitchen chores more thoughts of cooking will follow. Now your child's curiosity is waiting for their instructor.

Parents need to focus on their child's age and consider age related food choices. Guide them with a helpful hand and a loving heart. You may just have a chef in the family one day.

What age should anyone learn to cook? As soon as someone can stir and create. Children will always need close supervision.

If you're a teenager or an adult who never learned how to cook start watching cooking shows. You could go to the bookstore and find easy recipe books for beginners. Better yet take a cooking class. Cooking classes are fun. It's never too late to learn how to cook. You may even want to ring the dinner bell.

Published by Jenny Heart

I write on ehow, Triond, Bukisa, Xomba, and Infobarrel. When belonging to all these sites one can't help but learn many things. Sit a spell and learn something new. I might just be writing about you.  View profile

42 Comments

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  • Linda M. McCloud9/25/2010

    I totally agree that children need to learn the basics on how to take care of themselves as soon as they can. Not that I think cooking is such a fun activity. But it is a necessary one to know how to do.

  • Bridget Ilene Delaney7/21/2010

    Page love b/c it's late and I've had a headache on and off tonight.

  • Greg Seltz7/16/2010

    I will be teaching my daughter to cook ASAP. Well, not items that need to be boiled or cooked, but she can do sandwiches right away ;)

  • Bridget Ilene Delaney7/16/2010

    Way too early here for me to still be awake, but finally getting tired and listening to the news on "CBS Up to the Minute."

  • Jenny Powers7/10/2010

    It's great to start early. My mom never really showed me how to do anything except Macaroni and Cheese, which meant at 17 when I was on my own, that was all I knew how to make!

  • Wiley Vaughn7/9/2010

    Training men and women to cook early in life would no doubt save a few marriages!

  • Jan Corn7/8/2010

    I have saved recipes that I learned as a child and credit them to keeping my family from griping about my cooking experiments. The old standbys always come to the rescue (-:

  • Darrin Atkins7/6/2010

    nice work on this article

  • R.C. Johnson7/6/2010

    Another great topic -- you are very thoughtful and sensitive to the needs of children!

  • Cathy A Montville7/6/2010

    All my grand kids (except the two-year-old) learned to cook when they were pretty small. We have always done baking and such together! Wonderful article!

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