By Mackenzie Yeung
Cooking is a great way to empower your kids, but where to begin? Getting little ones involved in the kitchen at any age with kid-friendly recipes teaches them valuable life skills, and lets them explore with their sense of touch, taste, smell and hearing. Keep in mind some kids will be happier watching and talking about what you’re doing.
Learning to cook starts with grasping some of the basic skills that will help your children put meals together.
Local ingredients: Teach your kids about farmers, markets and picking vegetables.
Washing produce: Cleaning fruits and vegetables, and storing them, helps hygiene, planning and organizational skills.
Chop to it: Peeled fruits, herbs, soft vegetables and a kid-friendly knife is all they’ll need.
Weighing in: Take out the scales and measuring cups to practice math.
Stir it up: Tossing salad, blending or food-processing for sauce or juice is a great way to engage skills in food prep.
Rock and roll: Rolling pins are easy to use and pretty safe for youngsters. There are even tiny ones.
Safety lessons: Washing hands, knives behind the cutting board, pot handles in, and use back burners first.
Kitchen ABC’s: Always be cleaning. Wipe spills and clean messes to stay organized and safe.
