4 Tips for cooking with kids

Memories,Messes and mistakes describe our adventures cooking with my kids this summer. While messes and mistakes may not sound like success, it was.

What better way to learn that you should have your omelette fillings ready to go before you cook your omelette so that your eggs don’t over cook in the pan while you frantically chop an onion?

And how about reading a recipe in full before starting so that you don’t get half way through to realize, oh shoot we don’t have that ingredient. (I’ll fess up to doing that one.)

Here’s what really made it for me. When I made like a fly on the wall and just observed what was going on while we cooked, I saw my kid getting along nicely together, I got loads of talking time with my teen (if you have a tween-teen you know how difficult that can be) and now we can laugh about the meringue that didn’t turn out quite right but we ate it anyways.

My goal was to get some cooking skills under my kids’ belts but it was the quality time together that stands out as the big time benefit.

Here’s 4 tips for cooking with kids:

1. Think safety first. Supervise your kids at all times. Take the time to show them the do’s and don’ts in the kitchen starting with hand washing.
2. Stay positive and enjoy it. That’s easier to do when you are not rushed so allow more time than you think you’ll need. Expect a mess and mistakes. If your child wants to cook again, you’ve met your goal.
3. Choose a recipe together and get organized. Guide your child to a recipe that’s not overly challenging so they’ll be successful. Get a head start on a recipe or assemble some ingredients. This helps younger children who lose interest quickly.
4. Keep your child busy. Let your child do as much as possible on their own with your help, as needed. If you have a few children, try to give them all jobs even if it’s just to read the next step in the recipe.

What tips would you add to this list?