Can't bear it personally. I just feel anxious the whole time, the mess just gets out of hand and it ends up a stress-fest, really.
smug mode on
I have a 12 year old DS who will cook almost anything from scratch, un aided, we are not allowed in when he is cooking, he thinks us too amateur
he cooks a mean roast, obsessed with fish at the moment, makes a lovely hollandaise sauce, incredible cakes, pies, he loves cooking,
which means his father and I rarely cook these days, his siblings are quite completive in the kitchen,
kitchen is always immaculate as no one is allowed to cook without cleaning up first and after,
the only reason my children are brilliant cooks, is because they have always cooked since they were tiny,
they love finding and reading recipes, weighing out ingredients , all good maths especially when they double up amounts,
They love inventing recipes, it's just chemistry you can eat.
we have always talked about food, what each food does for you, so they know what they need in each meal,
Eldest DS's uni mates have been very grateful that he cooks, they are always buying ingredients so he cooks for them.
The best way to get them cooking properly, is involving them to help with every meal, all the normal stuff, and explain the thinking behind why you do it the way you do, and by the time they are 8/9 you will find that often you are sitting down to a decent meal that you haven't cooked.
Even toddlers love washing potatoes.
smug mode off,
I promise you it is worth it, get them cooking every day, even jelly and a can of fruit salad, is really satisfying for small children to cut up the jelly with children's scissors, adult puts on boiling water, and let them mix, get small child to divide the fruit into those little clip to tupperware containers, then pour over jelly, get child to stack in the fridge, they love going to get them and eat, as soon as they get that they can produce things, they want to do more.
kick stools for short asses make it easy for them to use a kitchen.