Kids and Cooking

My son had very little interest in cooking when he was young. But, I don't believe any one should be ignorant in the kitchen. So, when he was about 10 - 12 years old, I started teaching him how to prepare simple foods by himself at least once a month. Now, if a package has cooking directions, he can follow them and end up with edible results. He can also make a few simple dishes from scratch - spagetti and meat sauce, etc. without a recipe; and, with a recipe he can make most basic dishes. When he was 13, my husband took over and taught him how to grill on the BBQ. After that, we backed off. He will never be a chef; but, he won't starve or have to live on takeout either. Concerning your daughter, if she is really interested, start letting her cook and bake with your supervision for the first few months. Will she get burned or cut herself - yes. Even experienced cooks have small accidents. But, by being there supervising, you can show her what to do when an accident does happen and you can keep the accidents minor by teaching her the proper way to handle hot or sharp objects. Who knows, you may have the next Julia Child or Rachel Ray in your home just waiting for the opportunity to get her start.

I raised 5 kids and today they all cook. I started with dishes, they had to wash dishes, they washed rinsed dryed and put away. I never made the one washing help dry and put away. I didn't think that was fair, they had done their job. So my kids were willing to wash, they got done first! We always had dessert too and when they got done with the dishes they got dessert! Then I started with them helping to cook supper, if they helped cook supper then they didn't have to wash dishes! I can't remember how old they were when they started but I know my youngest one had to stand on something to reach things. I had a microwave but with 7 of us it just didn't do enough to make it worthwhile to cook in. So we used it to melt chocolate and butter! I was always in the kitchen with them and they were supervised that is the important part. A certain age to do things isn't a best guideline. I would not let my 16 year old use a knife for anything, she is so uncorordinated! But I have seen our 12 year old use a knife for simple things. My 20something daughter n law has a weird way of peeling something, so diffinately age has nothing to do with ability! The best way to teach them is when they are willing and wanting to learn and I have found this to be the younger ones are more interested. Close supervision is the key to success with kids.