My children are all getting to the age where they are curious about cooking. When I go into the kitchen for anything, whether to make a bowl of cereal or spaghetti, they all follow me hoping to have something to do.
The extent to what they can do depends on their age and interest. My eldest son is six, so he helps me prepare the food. He doesn’t get the knife to chop up onions or anything, but he gets to put things in bowls, mix batters and make hamburger patties (that’s his favorite).
My 4-year-old primarily likes to watch what’s going on. I sit there and tell him about what I’m doing and why. He sits there and soaks it all up. I can only imagine how much help he is going to be when he is older. He’ll already know how to do everything from watching me over all these years.
My youngest is only two, and his way of helping is grabbing whatever I put out and then running away with it. It could be the jam, bread or even a package of chicken. It then takes me about 30 seconds of running around to get it back. This is a habit that I hope he grows out of. Most of the time, I don’t even know he has done it until it’s too late.
I could have the refrigerator open for 10 seconds and the next thing I know, he’s sitting on the floor trying to drink a bottle of ranch dressing.
Children have a natural wonder about cooking and food preparation. It goes in the oven one way and comes out another. It tastes good, for the most part, and what parent hasn’t let their children get a finger full or cookie dough?
It’s important that children learn about food and cooking, not only for the obvious nutritional information, but their future as well. My husband never helped his mom cook, and when he went to college, everything he ate came from a microwave. It wasn’t until he met me that he began to understand and enjoy cooking. I don’t want my sons to have the same experience.
Let your children participate in cooking duties, even if they’re as small as getting something out of the refrigerator or mixing the batter. I guarantee they’ll love it and, eventually, they’ll be able to help you out with some of the cooking duties.
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