Cooking with kids.

[Imicola]

I saw this article today about encouraging and teaching children to cook. www.theguardian.com/food/2020/oct/27/what-cooking-skills-should-children-learn-kitchen-aide

I felt it lacked a bit, but then my DD is only 2 so perhaps I am naive about how much she'll participate as she gets older. Currently she helps to stir (/taste) and also chops mushrooms or banana with a very blunt knife...a butter knife.

We're thinking of getting her a set of utensils for Christmas and trying to do more, so I was wondering what others do... Any suggestions? Things that work or disasters?

Since they were able to stay seated my children have first observed cooking and later from little above 1 year old participate in meal preparation, not only baking. When they were little, I would sit them on the bench and they would pour ingredients, put cut vegetables in pan or pots, having them touch and smell the ingredients and spices.

At 2, they were in charge of sauces (vinaigrette and marinade ), washing salads, counting and passing me ingredients, brushing zucchinis with oil, sprinkling salt, cutting shapes in biscuits, cracking eggs, flattening a focaccia, rolling meatballs, starting the timer for eggs, turning on a blender, patting schnitzel in flour and breadcrumbs (I would do the egg part) .. .
Really at 2 , they can do so much more than just staring a cake.

I wouldn't buy a set for her with the exception of a rolling pin, but maybe a solid and stable stool for her to stand on, unless your kitchen bench is vert high then a chair with the back again furniture is better.
A couple of apron is also an option.

No real knife before 4 as fingers are too short to be able to properly bend fingertip to keep them away from blade.

Keep her by your side when you cook and sometimes try giving her a small task. It will make cooking longer, sometimes a bit messier, but they will learn quickly. For us, it is a daily habit. Now my kids are teenagers , and they are not in the kitchen everyday with me, but sometimes, they will be doing their homework at the kitchen table and if I am stuck / late I will ask them to prepare the pesto, caprese salads, starting an omelette even if flipping it is still a failure.
They especially love the big knives!

I trust that when they will move out, they will know how to cook real meals, made with real food

My 3 year old DD likes being involved and will crack eggs and stir them and take a turn trying to cut things up (with a toddler knife). She often does play cooking while I cook.
I tend to do more baking with her than cooking at her age and for Christmas I’m getting her a child size baking set.

Making chicken nuggets with cornflakes! She could crush the cornflakes and do the dipping/coating of the chicken pieces. realfood.tesco.com/recipes/cornflake-chicken-nuggets.html

Mini quiches - once you’ve rolled the pastry, she could use the pastry cutter to cut out circles of pastry and put them in the muffin tins. www.asdagoodliving.co.uk/food/recipes/mini-quiches

Cheese straws - she could help to twist the pastry and sprinkle on the cheese www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2413/quick-cheese-straws

Meatballs www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2451637/cooking-with-kids-spaghetti-and-meatballs-with-hid She could roll the meatball mix into walnut-sized balls and place them on a plate. I bet she’d also enjoy squeezing all the sausage meat out of the sausage skins into a bowl!

My DC enjoy beating eggs and using them to brush pastry www.jusrol.co.uk/pastry-recipes/chicken-pesto-tart

Toad in the hole www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/makes/i-can-cook-toadinthehole
Banana pops foodnetwork.co.uk/recipes/chocolate-covered-banana-pops/
Pitta pizzas www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/pitta-pizzas-0

I started mine off when they were very little with cake mixes. They learnt to count by putting out the cake cases. They loved mixing the cake mixture and decorating the cooked cakes. And of course eating them! Of course we graduated to more complicated dishes and savoury . Children learn counting as well as developing coordination through all types of cooking and baking. They particularly enjoyed making bread - kneading it and shaping rolls into interesting shapes. The other benefit as they get older is they are encouraged to talk to you in what feels like a safe environment.

My kids are slightly older, but they help me cook by fetching ingredients - it's a bit like a treasure hunt, also helps then learn counting, e.g. bring me three carrots, two onions, five potatoes, six cherry tomatoes etc. I do the chopping but they stir and watch. The ikea step stool is my friend here as it is good and stable and helps them reach the counter top. They also make toast and put butter/jam on but that does tend to end up rather messy!

Fantastic, thanks for all the responses, loads of great ideas for us to try! I might go for pizza this weekend as there are multiple parts she can do!

I felt so deflated after reading the hugely unambitious suggestions in that article, it made me wonder if I wad living in cloud cuckoo land with my plans for cooking with DD, but I am relieved to know it is possible.

I do have a platform slide which fits perfectly under our breakfast bar and means she can stand there at the worktop. Wasn't planned, but it's really handy!

@Imicola never let an article or social media post affect your mood or parenting. Follow your instinct and common sense.

My last piece of advise is to use real cookbooks and not those made for children. Go for real food, rich of flavour and not the typical children food which exist only in the Anglo-saxon culture (I am French). Even when she is not cooking with you, have her nearby so she sees the process while she reads a book or does some colouring at the breakfast bar. Cooking is a multi-sense experience, she will hear the knife chopping, smell the onion sizzling, and you can have her taste and advice you on seasoning (does this pesto need more salt for example ) . Cooking with children doesn't have to be a planned event, but a daily habit and she will remember it for life.

My DC are teenagers and and we have a very busy and open house, and often, when they have friends over, I will end up cooking with some of their friends. So many parents don't cook in Australia and just put meat on a BBQ or have takeways, frozen stuff and theses kids actually love to cook. Too bad that same enthusiasm isn't there when it is time to clean up!