Get your kids cooking: fun ideas for getting them involved in the kitchen

The kitchen is the heart of the home.

Home is where the heart is, and the kitchen is the heart of a home. The critical decision of what to eat is taken in the kitchen premises. Cooking and eating good food keeps our minds, body, and soul healthy. Food is a basic human necessity and not any luxury, and hence, cooking food items should be taught and learned by all, irrespective of gender or age.

Kids can help in the kitchen with simple activities like whisking an egg. Sometimes you don’t need traditional learning of certain activities. They can just be learned in a simple, funny way, starting with little steps. Cooking is one such activity that can be playfully taught to kids while having fun and adventure.

This blog is structured to help you find ways of involving your kids during holidays in simple tasks to learn essential cooking skills and important life lessons in the kitchen.  

Fun activities for kids in the kitchen

There are numerous activities through which kids can be involved in the kitchen and have fun while learning basic cooking skills to help empower them to support their essential needs. The kids can be engaged in simple activities like breaking an egg, whisking it, measuring the ingredients in a measuring cup, reading out the recipe, or bringing up the required ingredient to put in the cooked dish.

For young kids, for about one year, seeing and experiencing the cooking of their favorite dish can be all fun. You can talk with them about the procedure of what you are cooking for them. Wooden spatulas, plastic trays, non-breakable bowls, measuring cups, and spoons can enhance their experience in the kitchen and inculcate an interest in cooking skills.

For kids who fall in the age group of about three years, kitchen experience can be more fun as now they can be involved in real kitchen activities. They can now help rinse different fruits and vegetables, mash potatoes and other vegetables, and stir batter in a bowl. Apart from this, they can also assist in picking the herbs off from the stem, tearing greens like oregano and cilantro into pieces, or brushing up the oil or butter onto cookies, cakes, or pastries. The kids love it when they are involved in kitchen activities as they get to learn new things. Mixing or stirring the batter in a bowl, sprinkling salt and pepper over the herbs, holding the dustpan, or putting the silverware in the dishwasher are some simple skills that can be taught to kids and generate a sense of help and interest in kitchen work.

The children in the age group of 4-5 years can help in cutting soft food items with your support and supervision. They should be given plastic knives and not ones with sharp blades to prevent any trauma or injury. They can crack the eggs and whisk them in a bowl or peel off the boiled eggs with a soft shell. They should be taught how to spread butter or jam on slices of bread and set the microwave oven timer for baking their favorite cakes or defrosting the cooked meals. The kids of this age group should learn to measure the ingredients in the measuring bowl. This will enhance their knowledge of the kitchen ingredients and their mathematical skills in knowing different values. The kids can be taught to set the table for family lunch or dinner and enhance their creative ideas. They can help knead the pizza or bread dough and learn the consistency with which it is prepared. Squeezing the lemons and limes is no risk or difficult job to be done by kids of this age group.

Kids about 8-9 years of age can participate and give their share of help in the kitchen as they are already aware of the essential pre-cooking tips and tricks. Under adult supervision, these kids are ready to cook over a stove and use blunt-bladed knives. They can grate cheese, whip cream in a hand mixer, drain and slice tofu into pieces, and cut the bread for a much better presentation. They will enjoy greasing a baking pan and helping put groceries away.

Learning through fun is retained throughout life. When taught and playfully involved in kitchen activities, the kids will try learning new things and have a completely new and adventurous experience.    

Takeaway

 “What we learn with pleasure, we never forget.” Hence, engaging the kids in kitchen activities with funny and playful ideas can help them learn new things quickly. We hope you enjoy the information provided. Do let us know in the comment section below.