Reinforcing Lessons
Having children offer hands-on help as assistants in the kitchen offers valuable lessons. You have the opportunity to use time in the kitchen to discuss healthy food choices, which reinforces what they learn in school. The work in the kitchen also allows children to learn about addition and measuring by working with recipes and ingredients. Even the youngest child can practice measuring flour, salt, or sugar, and while the first few tries are likely to be sloppy, eventually the kids will learn to be more proficient.
Ideas for Novice Cooks
Try the following ideas to get kids started in the kitchen:
- Emphasize cleanliness, so be sure all helpers wash their hands.
- Put a piece of waxed paper on the counter before allowing your child to measure an ingredient. That way, any spills can be returned to the container.
- For children whose manual dexterity hasn't caught up with their desire to help, try putting dry ingredients into a clean bowl so they can dip in and scoop out the needed amount without dumping the whole container.
- Try to use all plastic containers just in case something gets knocked off the counter.
Some Safety Tips
Emphasize safety first. Little ones need to know that the kitchen is a great place for fun, but it can be dangerous if they are not careful. Remind them that the oven and stove area is no place for their little fingers. Mom or Dad must always supervise and be in charge of these places.
Knives are off limits until you decide that your child is ready. Until then, choose tasks that do not require knives, or allow kids to learn with plastic knives. Using a plastic knife to cut up a peanut butter and jelly sandwich makes a child feel like a grownup, but please watch carefully because sometimes the teeth even on a plastic knife can be sharp.
Some tasks that do not require cutting include:
- measuring, washing, and tearing up lettuce for salad
- pouring ingredients from measuring cups into the mixing bowl
- pouring in the chocolate chips (but don't open the bag too early or you may catch your assistant eating the ingredients)
- mashing the potatoes with a non-electric masher
- being the switch operator for the mixer
- stirring the macaroni and cheese (particularly appealing since we know who is going to eat that creation)
- sprinkling the cheese or placing the pepperoni on pizza
These are just a few examples of the ways your kids can help.
Tips for Kids to Help
- Help them learn fractions by measuring the seasonings with them.
- They can rinse salad greens and break them into bite-sized pieces.
- Let them remove the husks and silks from corn on the cob.
- When preparing the chopped parsley for recipes, let them use kid-safe scissors to carefully snip the parsley into small pieces.
- They can learn good hand-eye coordination by breaking eggs into the mixing bowl for you.
- Let them rub the inside of the pot in which the noodles or pasta will be boiled with Crisco Oil. It will make the pan easy to clean.
- Older children can help measure the ingredients for many recipes. Give them a bowl and a set of measuring spoons and cups.
- If you're preparing asparagus, let the kids break the tips.
- If you're preparing gelatin with banana slices, let them carefully slice the banana.