Cooking with your children helps them develop healthy eating habits, creates a means for you to spend time and communicate with them and builds the skills needed to cook for themselves in the future. As a plus, it also can help expose something new to a picky eater or give a new offering to a kid who is used to eating the same stuff over and over again.
Here's a few ideas to guide you into a positive cooking experience with your youngster:
It's About Planning: Talk to kids in advance about picking a menu or a favorite recipe and take them shopping with you so that they can see what it takes to pull together a full-blown meal from beginning to end. It's a great time for kids to see that the ingredients don't magically appear in the fridge. You can emphasize budgeting, food selection and quantities needed.
Safe Cooking: Choose simple recipes that don't require frying or using the stovetop until children are older. As you are making meals with them, stress safety factors such as the reality that pots, oil and boiling water can be hot and can hurt them if they are not careful. Unless your child is old enough to use a knife, adults should be the ones doing the chopping-but highlight that knives are dangerous and should not be touched without an adult present. You can certainly try giving a younger kid children's craft scissors to cut the tips off of green beans, for example. Adults should be the ones putting pans in the oven or cooking on the stovetop whenever possible.
Cleaning Up: Before kids get their hands into the ingredients, insist they wash their hands with soap and water. Explain that healthy cooking means washing up before touching anything. If they are handling raw chicken, meats or eggs, make sure you make them aware of the dangers of salmonella and why they must wash their hands again after touching these items. [Alert! If you are a fan of letting them lick the spoon, make sure you haven't yet used raw eggs as one of your ingredients!] Also, as they are cooking, help them understand that cleaning up as they go is important, and show them how to wash bowls and utensils.
Give Simple Tasks: Let your child stir cake batter, wash lettuce leaves, or toss pre-measured spices into a bowl. They don't necessarily need to do all the tasks involved in putting together a full meal, but they can share in the responsibility with siblings or mom and dad. Emphasize that it's about team work. Try simple recipes such as salads, a healthy snack mix or cookies that aren't too complex or have too many steps to follow. Once your kid has mastered the simple stuff, you can certainly challenge them with a more intricate recipe.
Talk To Them: As your kids are cooking, give them lots of instruction about what they are doing and show them how to do it. You might demonstrate how to stir batter properly a few times before handing them the spoon. Chat with them about the importance of using fresh veggies and fruits in the meal, so that they gain knowledge of what healthy eating is. Talk to them about fresh, affordable foods from diverse cultures, and help them explore varieties of foods using all of their senses-taste lemons, smell chocolate and feel the skin of a pineapple. Make cooking with your kids fun! Don't hesitate to bring in every day conversation as well, and use the time to connect with your child about what's going on in their lives.
Picky Eaters Rejoice: Kids are usually pretty proud of eating and serving what they make themselves versus what their parents just slide in front of them. If you've got a picky eater, you might find that they are more likely to eat something that they had a hand in cooking. Just ensure success by letting them select a recipe so that they are more likely to eat what they've whipped up. If they are a fan of mac n' cheese, for example, perhaps you do a new version of it by putting in some small bits of broccoli, different varieties of cheese or even a breadcrumb topping. You might find that they will actually eat what they've concocted.