Why Build Kids' Kitchen Skills?

Teaching your children how to plan and prepare meals and snacks may:

• Encourage them to try new foods—they're more likely to eat foods they help choose or prepare.
• Give them a sense of pride and accomplishment when they see you enjoy a dish they helped prepare.
• Equip them with skills they need to be independent and develop healthy eating patterns.
• Create a special time for you to be together.
• Save you time as kids master kitchen tasks.

 

Serve Up a Great Experience

Let kids plan.
Give some choices, and let your preschoolers decide which cereal and fruit to put out for breakfast, or what vegetable to have for dinner. Older kids can help plan meals, choose recipes and write the shopping list.

Get them cooking.
Little ones can "cook" by gathering recipe ingredients from the pantry or refrigerator, pouring cereal into a bowl or snapping green beans. Older kids and teens can help with more complicated tasks and even make simple recipes on their own.

Make the kitchen a "learning laboratory."
Kids can practice their school skills by:

• Reading recipes or expiration dates on packages,
• Counting ingredients like eggs,
• Measuring flour or sugar and
• Setting the right number of minutes on the timer.

Teach them food safety rules such as proper hand washing before touching food and how to clean fruits and vegetables.

Encourage creativity.
Ask an older teen to whip up a surprise family meal from start to finish or little ones to "decorate" an unbaked pizza with shredded cheese and toppings you provide.

Keep it safe.
Always supervise kids while they're in the kitchen, especially around appliances and sharp utensils, and give them age-appropriate tasks.