Kids in the Kitchen

by Lois Breneman - 2003

By allowing your children to join in the fun and adventure of helping to prepare healthy foods, you will interest them in eating foods that will promote good health.  

Teach your toddlers to spread peanut butter on a stalk of celery, and stick raisins or dried cranberries on the peanut butter.  Call it “Ants on a Log.”  Red ants and black ants!

Even toddlers can place fresh fruit or vegetables on a plate to serve – or put crackers in a serving dish and cheese on a plate.  It doesn’t have to be fancy – and it won’t be, if done by a toddler!  These simple acts will make your little one feel like he is a part of preparing lunch or dinner.  And he is!  Remember to praise him for a good job! 

Toddlers love to stir!  When our youngest son was just a toddler he enjoyed mixing up our frozen orange juice in a pitcher on the floor.  I gave him the pitcher with the frozen orange juice and only one can of water inside, so he wouldn’t be inclined to make a mess.  He had fun mixing it up with a potato masher!  After he had it mashed and mixed well, I’d give him more water to stir in and it was ready to drink!  He loved doing that job and it saved me time.  Young children love to “help,” so make use of their ernest desire as they also learn a new skill, as well as develop their muscles and motor skills.

Young children can help by adding the ingredients for casseroles, quick bread, and many other parts of the meal.  Older children who can read can also learn how to follow instructions and use their math skills as they learn to cook and bake. 

Look through your cookbooks and choose simple recipes they can make with you.  Then since too many kids in the kitchen make cooking rather hectic, plan a “Me and Mom Time” as you spend time cooking with each child.  They love it!  Yet they will also be learning a new skill and investing their time in the meal, which will most likely cause them to want to eat it.  

Teach your children to clean up their messes and wash the dishes as soon as they are capable. Of course, safety is a must to teach, especially when it involves sharp knives and the hot stove or oven.  A child’s cookbook will have all the safety guidelines listed – and what a great gift idea for your children or grandchildren! 

As your children learn to help in the kitchen, guide them in planning an entire meal to prepare for the family as soon as they can handle it, with some help from you.  Our daughter prepared her first simple meal at age seven, and later cooked dinner each Monday dinner.   Sons need to learn how to cook as well, so don’t short-change them by leaving them out of the cooking.  Both of our sons are using that skill today as single young men, and every wife I know that has a husband who can cook is very grateful to his mother for teaching him.

So I believe that involving your children in many wholesome new experiences and teaching them various skills, including cooking and baking, will build your children’s self confidence and help them to know where their greatest interests lie.