By Megan McIntosh
There comes a time when your kids want to be involved in what mom or dad is doing in the kitchen. They want to bake their own cake or fry their own eggs. Whether you decide to start small or let them help you with a whole meal, it’s easy to have some cooking fun with your kids! Celebrity parent and model Chrissy Teigen recently made a special menu for celebrity baby Luna, and Jennifer Garner routinely cooks healthy meals for her kids. Like them, you can also have your kids join you in the kitchen!
Parenting Advice: Cooking with your kids can be a fun and educational experience that lets you have some quality time together, too!
Here’s some exciting advice to start cooking in the kitchen with your kids:
1. Find some kid-friendly menus:
Find some fun menus that the kids can easily follow with you. Try to make character pancakes with fruit and nuts as decorations. Put together a yummy snack mix, which is simple and should keep the mess to a minimum. There are a variety of kid-friendly menus, but you can even create your own like celebrity parent Chrissy Teigen did when Luna turned out to be a picky eater.
2. Start small:
If your child wants to be involved in a the preparation of a grown-up meal, give them something small to start with. Let your child mix the spices, or let them toss some ingredients into a salad. This gets them excited to be involved in the kitchen, but keeps their little hands safe. Help them create something healthy but simple, like Jennifer Garner and her granola recipe.
Related Link: Parenting Advice: Make Your Own Fresh Baby Food
3. Let them be a little independent:
Once your child is a little older, you can let them be a little more independent in the kitchen. Let them create their own snack mix rather than following a recipe. Let your child create recipes that have three ingredients like banana pancakes or dunkaroo dip. Let your kid make dessert while you focus on dinner with them making banana oat cookies or peanut butter fudge. Keep it seasonal by making popsicles in the summer and hot chocolate in the winter.
Related Link: Parenting Tips: Make Popsicles with Your Kids This Summer
4. Keep it age appropriate: Though we encourage independence with our children, it’s very important to keep it at level with their age. If they’re a little younger, you’ll want to keep them away from sharp objects and doing more activities like mixing and squeezing. As they get older you can incorporate more difficult tasks such as cutting with a blunt blade or cracking eggs. Eventually they’ll be able to help you out in the kitchen so much that you’ll get a chance to relax a little quicker.
Related Link: Product Review: Back-To-School Products For Kids Of All Ages
Any tips for how to get started in the kitchen with your kids? Share below!
