How To Get The Kids Involved During Cooking Dinner And Making It Fun For Them
It is important for kids to learn how to cook. The best way to make sure that they learn is to get them involved with cooking dinner at an early age. This doesn't have to be a chore – there are plenty of ways to make it fun for them. Regardless of age, you can invite them into the kitchen and have them help.
Get Kid-Sized Gear
Kids want to feel like they are part of the process. Go ahead and get them aprons to wear. If you have younger kids in the house, you may also want to get them some kid-sized gear. This can include smaller spatulas, whisks, mixing bowls, and various other accessories. This will be easier for them to get involved even though they have smaller hands.
Make Foods That Kids Like to Eat
The reality is that most kids are picky eaters. You want to make some food that kids like to eat, and that can be a lot of fun to make as well. This isn't just desserts. You can have them help with cheeseburgers, tacos, pizza, lasagna, and much more. If you create an assembly line, particularly if there are multiple kids in the house, it can add some excitement – and you make sure that every kid is involved.
Provide Basic Steps
Break up the recipe that you are working on to let kids get involved as much as possible. The younger kids will have to start with such things as dumping ingredients into the bowl and mixing things around. The older kids may be able to handle cracking eggs, pouring batter, and even using the stove and oven. Get kids familiar with the various tools throughout the kitchen. If you have a stand mixer, this can be one of the easiest to start with because of its stability. From there, you can move on to teaching them about the blender, a food processor, and more.
Knife skills for kids, educate them early on
Knife skills are important as well, but your kids may not be ready for that yet. Start them off with the most basic of skills and as they start to show improvement, give them more responsibility. Eventually, they are going to be able to complete the entire recipe on their own – and they will be the ones cooking dinner for you.
Let Them Taste Test
Taste testing is perhaps one of the easiest ways to get the kids involved in the kitchen and make it fun for them at the same time. After all, who doesn't want to be the one to taste everything that is eventually going to make it out on the dinner table? Set some rules, though. The only way that they will be able to taste anything is if they help with some of the different steps. The first few times that you invite the kids in the kitchen to learn and play, make sure that you are creating something exciting – such as cakes, cookies, or even homemade whipped cream. When the kids find out they get to help with something that's going to be really good, they will want in. Figure out the different ways to get kids involved as it can make a big difference on their love for cooking as adults. Too many parents aren't teaching their kids to cook anymore and it's resulting in a generation that depends almost entirely on going out to eat at restaurants. Get a kid-friendly cookbook and get them cooking. When you are ready to talk about kitchen designs that work for you, contact Newcastle Kitchen and Bedroom CO.