teaching 8 yo to cook

[NewBlueDuck]

My 8 year old is really keen to “cook independently” but in reality it’s just constant:
“what do I do next?”
“is this right?”
“can you check this?”
Which sort of defeats the point 😅
I’ve tried writing steps out but they don’t really follow it, and I don’t want to hover the whole time.
Has anyone found something that actually works for this stage?

Stay close by because they will be using a cooker they have to get use to that.
Its a bit of a bother being askd all the time but with you sticking to it they will get the hang of it.
But i think its lovely that you have a child that wants to cook.

I dont have kids so im going on a whim here.

Maybe paster,rice egg fried rice, cupcakes, sponge cakes.
Toast, egg on toast scrambled, beans on toast.
Mini burgers.
Also join in make it fun but like they are doing it.
Jelly angel delight.
Maybe you could have a few cook nights a week just the two of you, the memorys will last a life time.

I really dont have a clue do i, but hopefully someone will pop on soon, with better advice.

My DD was obsessed with baking cakes and cupcakes on her own at that age. I just bought the ingredients and left her to it

@Venusx that's how I taught my sons to cook. Now they are safe in the kitchen and I get a night off!!

We started with home made pizza. Savoury pizza roll ups....sheet of puff pastry, spread with tomato puree and herbs. Sprinkle over cheese, roll up and cut into slices and bake. Yes it's a pain when they keep asking you for help but your child will get more confidence x

Is there a YouTube channel where she can watch a video of kids cooking to copy?? You’d still need to be close by but it might reduce the questions a bit

Can you find a local cooking class for kids? I find they will happily learn from other people but me, not so much.

My DD was another one that loved making cakes and biscuits. I would make a small batch and she would do the same alongside me, after a while she could do it on her own. We got her a small double saucepan for melting chocolate, she loved that. Making pizza dough was an early thing she did too, loved the kneading. And messing about with lots of toppings!

My ideas would be:

1. Repeat - encourage her to keep making the same thing (or very small variations of the same thing) rather than trying new things each time. This will let her have recipes that she is confident in, rather than constantly facing new challenges.
2. Video recipes or ones with lots of pictures rather than written ones - much less confusion and far less vague for children to follow.

Why don’t you want to hover the whole time? Cooking independently is an illusion at this age unless you have a Junior Masterchef on your hands - and that tends to happen if your dc “cooks” alongside you from a young age.

Give your dc specific jobs to do in the kitchen to build skills. I had lots. I always prepared the cabbage and made the gravy and Yorkshire pudding batter for Sunday lunch. If lamb was on the menu, I was the one who harvested the mint from the garden, chopped it finely and steeped it in sweetened vinegar. As I got older, I learned how to bake, scrape and chop vegetables, make pastry, use the mincing machine, clean and grill a mackeral, make a roux sauce, etc. Until I could make any recipe my mum could except the deep fat frying pan which I was never allowed to touch!

I'm in a different situation but I see some similarities.

My disabilities have progressed to stop me cooking as I would like, I can just about stand long enough to make scrambled eggs so now my carer needs to do most cooking.

Back to the point, my carer has never really cooked for himself (except roast potatoes and toad in the hole) so we have been using 'Hello Fresh'.

It is not cheap but for my carer it is the fact that everything is weighed out / measured and there are pictures to follow as well as words.

We have had mixed results.

Does s/he have a children's cook book? Sorry I don't think you stated whether this was a boy or a girl.

Get s/he watching Masterchef Junior USA - seeing an 8 year old making a three course dinner proves it can be done.

I also think cooking 'side by side' as a PP said can work well. So you are cooking and your child is the sous chef so they are chopping veg t the side of you.

My DB gives his son kitchen prep to do, like a sous chef or something. So he can chop like a demon. Nephew likes to cook but not sure I’d let him do it all by himself as he gets excited and thinks the electric whisk with cake mix going everywhere is fun and a toy! He's almost 8 though and I think he can cook by himself too. Pizzas probably.

I assume you’ve got the cook books. I bought nephew baking kits over lockdown which he did with his dad. Betty Crocker do low sugar cake mixes.

Agree with side by side too. Let them weigh things. Maths lesson?

I got DS9 a cook book for teens. The children's cookbooks all seemed a bit babyish. We pick a dish, go shopping for the ingredients together and then cook it side by side.

The key here is that we are doing it together. He makes healthy choices about what veg to have with it, is engaged in choosing ingredients together and budgeting, is learning essential life skills and we have a laugh!

I want him to be able to go to uni/ leave home being able to cook proper meals, but that requires effort on my part.

There’s a lovely book called Cook School by Amanda Grant that focuses on teaching basic cooking skills. The recipes are classed by ages, but there’s no reason why a child couldn’t do the ones for younger children.

Thanks everyone, this has been really helpful
Just to update, we actually tried something a bit different this morning (DD is 8 and homeschooled so we had time).
Instead of writing the steps out, I sketched them visually almost like little picture instructions she could follow.
It was very rough, but it worked surprisingly well. She stayed focused for much longer and didn’t keep asking ‘what do I do next?’ every step.

I attached one of the first ones I did. And the result she cooked for my 3YO. I think I'll take tomorrow morning off!

Definitely not perfect, but feels like a step in the right direction.
Also taking on board the suggestions about repeating the same recipes. that makes a lot of sense for building confidence.
Really appreciate all the ideas 😊

My 3 (now all early 20s and good, confident cooks) all learnt from this book:

Children's Step-by-Step Cookbook by Angela Wilkes

Covers basic preparation, cooking, techniques, etc, plus some recipes. Has lots of step by step instructions and pictures/photos.