Tuesday, 05 August 2008
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Kids in the Kitchen
My boys love food. Even more than they love food they love helping cook the food. I have a couple step stools in the kitchen for them to use while they help me measure and mix while I'm baking. They are excellent with taking turns stirring.
by Mama Fox
I think allowing kids to help prepare meals is great! Remember those every day learning opportunities? Cooking is full of them. You can work on math (counting, fractions, addition), reading if you are using a recipe book, talk about nutrition and portion sizes, kitchen safety (younger kids don't touch knives, older kids how to use one safely, be very careful with hot pots, etc.), basic life skills. You can talk about whatever culture the meal comes from and about that area of the world. Having your child help from meal prep through cleaning up helps with self esteem, responsibility and of course a kid will more likely eat the meal s/he helped make! Also it's just a great time to spend as a family.
Of course it's harder to let them help the smaller they are. Right now my 4 y/o helps a lot with measuring and stirring, both with baking and cooking. He can use a butter knife to cut soft things. It may be another year or so before I will trust him enough with a sharper knife. He also helps read recipes. My 2 y/o mostly dumps in what I measure out and stirs a bit when we are baking cookies, cake, etc. I'm of course very iffy about having him near the stove while I'm cooking so we are avoiding that for now. Next year, I hope he will be able to help us more.
There are cook books and recipes sites geared towards kids out there. I don't use any yet but they are just a google search away. I'm sure you know some easy recipes that your kids can help out with. It's not hard to find at least one thing they can help out with. Invest is a good step stool so they can see what is going on.
Some good tips for cooking with your kids:- Never leave them alone in the kitchen cooking. It only takes a second for something dangerous to happen.
- Don't have them help you at a time when you are stressed. It takes a lot of patience so make sure you have it before starting out.
- Be prepared for some mess ups. It's not the end of the world if the meal doesn't turn out perfect. It's the journey, not the destination.
- Have them help at least one night a week. Even if they just help stir something a few times, they will feel proud with their contribution.
- Let them help with weekly menus and grocery shopping. They are eating the meals too so why shouldn't they can some input on what those meals are?
- Buy food as whole as possible, blocks of cheese, whole fruits and vegetables, so they can do prep work if they are old enough to handle knives and peelers.
- If they show a major interest in cooking and you want to/have the space to store them, have them pick out some of their own kitchen supplies. A cutting board, vegetable peeler, measuring cups, pizza cutter, etc. You can find things really cheap at thrift stores and dollar stores.
- Have fun! Cooking shouldn't be a serious affair anyway. Put on some music, shake your booty, enjoy yourselves.
Happy cooking!
Do your kids like to help you (or "help" you
) in the kitchen? What kind of responsibilities do you give them? - Never leave them alone in the kitchen cooking. It only takes a second for something dangerous to happen.
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Comments (10)
My daughter is too young to help but she certainly loves being in the kitchen with me. I helped my mom cook from a very young age, I got my first cookbook (a "Kids" one) for my 6th bday. I am looking forward to cooking with my daughter when she's a little older. Just another word of precaution: Ovens can get very hot on the outside when they are on, especially older ones. My sister burned herself this way when she was a toddler so be careful when little one are in the kitchen!
My 2.5 year old son loves helping me in the kitchen! Like your son, he dumps, stirs, etc, but most of all likes to watch. He so badly wants to stand at the stove, but it makes me so nervous! Every once in awhile I'll let him watch for a few minutes, and then he has to get down. We also try and use it as teaching time... counting, etc.
@XbabyK@xanga - Very true. That's also part of kitchen safety. I'm happy that my range and oven have lights that stay on as long as it's hot regardless if it's on or not. I have pointed it out to the boys and explained it. I still am very cautious of having them in the kitchen when it's hot.
We're very slowly integrating the kids into the kitchen. Dh has much more patience than I do with this particular thing so it's pretty much been his thing. I'm glad, as I want the kids to aquire kitchen and cooking skills, as I'm too paranoid, high strung, in-a-rush and particular in the kitchen which makes me a bad candidate for teaching.
my nephew helps me (he's 5 now) - he loves stirring things and has cut with a butter knife for me. sometimes i let him try cracking eggs, and he's not too bad! just gotta pick out the shell pieces later :P but yeah, when i have my own kids someday, i'll definitely have them help in the kitchen if they want. it's very fun, and you're right - it doesn't have to be so serious! we've definitely had mess ups, but it's fun!
My oldest has loved helping in the kitchen since he was pretty young. He loves to help make cookies, with me or my mother-in-law. He would just dump in pre-measured stuff at a young age so she gave him the nickname 'stumper the dumper'. Don't know how she came up with that, but he loved it!
I can't wait until Jeremiah is old enough to help me out! Right now he's only 8 months old and just likes to watch while sitting in his exersaucer for a few moments only, especially if I'm using something noisy like the food processor.
Every week before Christmas I have my now 8-year old niece,Natalie, come over and help me bake and decorate Christmas cookies. She loves it. We have been doing this since she was 5 years old. I give her really easy tasks but I think this year she will get to begin to do more.
My younger sister couldn't be kept out of the kitchen. My Grandma in particular taught my sister a lot.
At the age of ten, my sister made the family a gourmet meal (rice pilaf, stuffed bell peppers, pesto chicken and greek wedding soup) without help.
When she was thirteen, she baked (entirely from scratch and without help) my Grandpa's wedding cake. It was five tiers, five flavours, and absolutely amazing.
So kids in the kitchen is a great thing. Of course, only if they taek an interest.
My daughter loves to "cook". (She's 3) She helps measure, combine, and stir. She also uses a butter knife and sometimes a small paring knife, under strict supervision, to cut various items. It's a wonderful bonding experience. Her favorite thing to make is homemade cookies. It's a rare treat!
I'm with you on this one. Many people are a bit scared of allowing their children into the kitchen with so many gadgets, knives and the chance of burning or harming themselves in other ways its understandable. However, if we only look at the negatives in the kitchen, our children lose out on a lot.
We must teach them about harm as well. The sooner we teach them, the less time they will spend getting hurt. My daughter is 1 1/3 now, but i found a corner for her in the kitchen away from the stove and the knife drawer, and she helps me every time I make salad. She just loves it!
I cut up the cucumbers in little squares, stick it in a bowel and give her a little bit of salt and pepper, some oil and lemon and she does it all. (With me standing at her side of course). Teh lemon is difficult to squeeze so I help her with he little hands to do that. Then she takes the wooden spoon and stirs it. It's wondeful to watch the expression of accomplishemnt on her face.
As her mommy I feel I am teaching her the value of eating healthy, the joy of the kitchen, teamwork, proportions and even dexterity learning how to mix everything.
It's wonderful that you cook with yoru child. I hope Vanessa and I continue to do this for many years to come : )