Happy Monday!

Our last show was all about getting kids into the kitchen. It’s a great way to get the whole family involved and to spend some quality time together… all the while teaching about nutrition and well being! Plus, it’s a great way to get help with a task that needs to be done daily…

To get your kids involved in the cooking process:

- First, make sure you have enough time. Try not to be rushed when cooking with your kids. Be sure to have time so you won’t feel stressed to get things done quickly or become impatient with them too easily. You don’t want to turn them off cooking.
- Set up your kitchen before calling the kids to help you. Set out all the ingredients, put aside the cooking tools you’ll need, even measure some things ahead of time if needed. This will make it easier to assign tasks and to supervise. My 5 year old likes to measure the ingredients, even flour that he levels off with a butter knife. It does take more time than if I do it myself but he is so proud of the muffins or whatever it is we have baked when it comes out of the oven!
- Begin your session by reading the recipe out loud and explaining all the different steps. Be sure the kids understand what the words mean and which ingredients are which. (Cooking is a fantastic way to help build a child’s vocabulary and even learn a bit about math!)
- Complete each step of the recipe before moving on to the next one. It might take some practice supervising more than one child at a time, but with time, both you and the kids will become more patient.
- Practice food safety skills by washing your hands and all cooking surfaces before you begin.
- When finished, be sure to involve the kids in the clean up and washing of dishes. Very young children can load the dishwasher or put ingredients away and older children can hand wash dishes. A cooking session should never be complete until the dishes are washed and away.

Of course, there are many ways to get kids cooking! They can help you plan ahead and make grocery lists. They can even help you choose meal ideas (for example, they pick which vegetable to go with which meal). They can also help with preparation, creating snacks, and of course, cleaning up afterwards. My son prefers the cooking to the clean-up, but he does both really well! Getting creative at the sink while he plays with a sieve or even a small dump truck makes dish washing much more fun!

Happy cooking!

Patricia

Keywords : Cooking with Kids, family time, teaching nutrition and well being

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