Cooking in the Kitchen with Kids

Cooking in the kitchen with kids can be downright messy, but it also can be pretty fun for parents, as well as kids. As a mother of multiple children, I've had several fun cooking moments with kids. The first time I allowed my two oldest to cook was one of the most fun.

At the time, one of the girls was still a baby and the other was a toddler. I am a firm believer in always involving the kids in every aspect of family life, no matter how small they are. Not only is cooking an important life skill they will be familiar with, but it also is a great way to express creativity, as well as have some family fun.

For this first time cooking in the kitchen with kids, I chose sugar cookies. Easy enough, right? Measure, pour, stir, shape, and bake. Not much to making cookies...unless your a baby or a toddler. Even though I knew it was going to get messy, I let the toddler pour each ingredient into the measuring cups as needed. I let both stir. Of course, I had to finish that off a bit, but still they had fun.

I even let the toddler help with rolling out the dough. I left the shaping strictly to them, letting them put the cookie cutters where they wanted to and letting them lift the cookie shapes out of the dough and onto the baking sheet. Some did not even closely resemble what they were supposed to, but that was the best part.

When we were done, there was flour, sugar, and cookie dough pieces all over the place, but the kids had so much fun. Plus, it was an awesome memory and the kids loved eating the masterpieces they created. Cooking in the kitchen with kids is an unforgettable experience in motherhood that should be done often.