5 Ways Kids Can Join You When Cooking

If you’re looking for a fun family activity, you’ll love these 5 ways kids can join you when cooking in the kitchen!

Kids are naturally curious beings. When they often see their parents scrambling and busy in the kitchen, they tend to want to join too. 

The great smell of food, the fascinating colors of ingredients, the crackling sounds of fish being fried–it is all captivating for a child. With their unending curiosity, they will continue to bug you to let them inside the kitchen. And even if it is not always the most convenient thing to do in the world, you should still try to let your children help you out sometimes.

Kids learn a lot when they join you for cooking:

• safety
• new recipes
• food classifications
• health benefits of foods

You can also try to play little games with them while cooking, like letting them guess food that starts with a P or other letters. This allows them to exercise their minds a bit more while their hands are busy. 

As you might know, I wrote a bestselling book called Happy Habits.

Inside my book I share a range of habits which boost happiness. And cooking is one of my research-backed and highly recommended happy habits to do regularly.

Plus, spending time with loved ones is also a big time happiness habit.

When you combine the two habits – as you do when you cook with your kids – then you get a doubly rewarding activity.

5 Ways Kids Can Join You When Cooking

If you are having a hard time deciding which part of your cooking process you should let your kids in on, here are five things your kids can participate in the kitchen.

1. Washing the ingredients

This is quite the easiest task for them to accomplish. Even preschoolers can do this themselves! Show them how to wash certain vegetables and fruits, and they will follow suit.

Kids are good at mimicking other people. So you can trust them to adapt to how you do things quickly.

Washing vegetables and fruits can also teach them to learn more about food and the nutrients it contains.

You can also share how to preserve some ingredients using different methods.

2. Pouring ingredients in measuring cups

Your kids would need your guidance here. But this is a fun task for children to do.

Let them pour flour or other condiments into measuring cups.

Not only will your kids learn about different ingredients again. You will also train them in using measurements. Truly a great practice for their mathematics subject!

3. Cracking eggs

Most children get frustrated that they cannot crack eggs easily, like how grown-ups do it.

So, the best you can do is to teach them early!

This is an ideal task for school-aged children because they have better control of their hands.

They will feel mentally accomplished and will eventually boost their self-esteem in what they do.

4. Peeling apples and potatoes

No, they will not be using a knife!

Buy a safe peeler!

Let them learn how to properly peel potatoes, apples, carrots, and other ingredients that require peeling.

Through this, they will learn how to be patient and gentle. This is also another good task for school-aged children.

5. Cutting and dicing ingredients

Since this involves knives, it is a given that your guidance is needed.

You have to teach them how to hold the knife properly, position their hands correctly, and other safety instructions.

Even if they are confident they can do it, you still have to supervise them while cutting fruits or dicing vegetables.

If you’re hesitant to use a real knife, you can let them use a toy knife instead.

Letting your children join you for cooking in the kitchen feel scary at first. However, there’s a safe way for kids to join to cook. And doing so can teach them a lot of life skills and lessons. So, do not be afraid of letting your child help out in the kitchen for cooking!

Learn more happiness habits

Read my bestselling book Happy Habits