A budding chef discovers her passion for creating unique and novel flavor combinations by whisking strawberries and plums together at the museum’s Potter the Otter: A Healthy Adventure exhibition.
Tips and Tricks to Get Kids in the Kitchen
By Brittany Waxman
Right now, families across California and the country are experiencing record levels of togetherness. We’re all eating meals in our homes and cooking together. To help stave off the boredom and find a new shared hobby, invite your kids into the cooking process!
Benefits of Family Cooking
Cooking with your kids is a great way to bond as a family, build young children’s self-esteem, and even help them develop healthy eating habits! In fact, when involved in the cooking process at a young age, young kids are more likely to overcome picky eating habits.
Kids can plate dishes or do simple veggie prep meals, and learn about different tastes, textures, flavors, and more!
Cooking is also a highly educational activity. Bring biology into the kitchen by teaching little ones about how fruits and vegetables grow. Learn about chemistry by seeing how cooking food in oil or water has different effects on the texture and flavor. Apply math at the dining table by asking your child to help you divide the meal into the right number of servings after counting how many people are at the table. The possibilities for learning are endless!
Note: Before starting any cooking adventure, remind children of all ages to wash their hands. Now is a particularly good time to reinforce good handwashing practices!
Toddler Tasks (Ages 2–3)
Every age, including toddlers, have a role they can play in helping prepare meals.
- Have toddlers help wash fruits and vegetables or assist in pouring ingredients into bowls.
- Let them stir and feel ingredients.
- When safe, allow them to taste little pieces of ingredients and ask them how it tastes, smells, and feels.
- Provide plastic bowls, utensils, and some water so your little one can make pretend “soup” while you work.
Early Knife Skills (Ages 4–5)
As children reach ages 4–5, many are ready to start learning basic knife skills using a plastic or butter knife.
- Teach knife safety including holding the knife only by the handle as well as how to safely pass the knife from one person to another (with the handle towards the person they are passing it to).
- Practice chopping skills by providing soft foods such as tofu or a banana.
- Encourage your child to learn to spread with a knife as well. They can help make their own meals by spreading peanut butter on bread or tomato sauce on an English muffin and adding their own toppings to create open-faced sandwiches or DIY pizzas.
Turning Up the Heat (Ages 6–8)
At ages 6–8, you may be ready to introduce basic stove usage with supervision.
- Practice turning the stove on and off. Teach your kids that burners are hot and need to be avoided after immediate use, even when they look cool.
- Explain the importance of keeping pot or pan handles pointing away from themselves or other burners to avoid knocking the pan off the stove or letting it get too hot.
- If you have eggs at home, scrambled eggs are a simple first food to cook on the stove and now is a fun time to give it a try with the entire family home for breakfast together. Crack the eggs, beat them, and cook them over medium heat slowly in a non-stick skillet with just a bit of oil. If they aren’t perfect day one, there’s always breakfast tomorrow!
Invent Recipes
When working without a recipe, turn flavors into an experiment. For a snack, prep one ingredient such as steamed carrots and test out a variety of seasonings (older kids can help suggest ideas for this).
Create your own spice mixture! See what it tastes like. What do you like about it? What could be changed?
Have everyone in the family sample each experimental seasoning blend. Have fun with it — perhaps you pretend it’s a science experiment or a cooking show with the kids as judges. If you find something you all love, use that same spice mixture on tonight’s dinner! If you don’t, c’est la vie! You still had a great afternoon trying new things and eating veggies.
You’re all going to be home together for the next little while, so have fun together, cook together, eat together, and learn together. We can’t wait to see you back at the Museum practicing your new skills in Rainbow Market or trying out new foods at Foodshed, but in the meantime, share your creations on social media and tag us! Bon appetit!
