Kids in the Kitchen: How to Cook Up Family Fun
As I grew older, I learned and mastered more tasks required in meal preparation. After I mastered stirring cereals, corn chips, pretzels and several secret ingredients in a bowl without sending them flying all over the kitchen, I was allowed to stir a cake batter, etc.
Begin with simple recipes. There are some great cookbooks for kids on the market today that include step-by-step instructions and pictures so kids can see what the food will look like when it's in finished. To see a list of the top 10 children's cookbooks, including several with recipes for foods mentioned in some children's favorite movies, go to http://childrensbooks.about.com/od/themesubjectbooksby/tp/cookbooks.htm.
A fun family activity to introduce basic concepts is to make a fairy tale house (or a "gingerbread" house). Line a 1' by 1' piece of thick cardboard with aluminum foil, or use a small cookie sheet. Graham crackers can be used for the outside and stick everything together using frosting. M&M's, chocolate chips, skittles, bite-sized cookies, etc. can be used to make windows, shutters, etc.
Young children can even help "pour" cake batter into a pan by dipping a measuring cup in the bowl and emptying the cup into the cake pan. Children can prepare lunch treats like ants on a log (celery stick filled with peanut butter and topped with raisins) or spreading peanut butter on crackers (they hold up better than soft bread).
By Middle School children should be able to handle a knife and begin learning to chop vegetables and slice fruits. They probably have mastered an electric can opener and hand mixer by this age and can learn to make dishes like quiche (with a frozen pie shell), salads, gelatin salad with fruit, as well as cookies and cupcakes.
Start early and take small steps. Cooking up Family Fun is a great way to introduce concepts like math and following directions, and boosts self-esteem. The food network has many great suggestions and recipes for cooking with kids. Check them out at http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/lf_kids/text/0,1904,FOOD_16382_19600,00.html.
Published by Mary Moss
I work as an Administrative Assistant for an Energy Services Company. In my "free" time I'm a free lance writer, motivational speaker and Christian storyteller. My poetry and devotions book, Woman At The Wel... View profile
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- Cooking is a great way for children to learn concepts like math and following directions.
- Spending one-on-one time with a child is a great opportunity to both teach and learn from each other
- Cooking is great "survival" skill for kids to have when they leave home and live on their own.
2 Comments
Post a CommentExcellent! Cooking with your children is something all parents should do :)
My grandson LOVES to help me cook. He's so cute! He sits on the counter and does exactly what I tell him. When we're done, his face is aglow as he runs around telling everyone he helped Nana cook dinner or make cookies or whatever. It's part of our special time together whenever we can swing it.