Kids In The Kitchen

Over thousands of years and across every culture, we’ve gathered around hearths and tables to cook and share food. For children, this experience is especially valuable: Research shows that teaching kids to cook encourages them to eat more fruits and veggies throughout their lives. And then of course there’s the fun factor! One study found that children who received cooking classes did not perceive cooking-related tasks as chores. And making your child your sous chef can make the whole kitchen experience more entertaining, especially when it comes to laughing over cooking foibles. 

Engaging children in family meals is also a great way for the whole family to bond, and cooking promotes their emotional well-being by raising confidence and self-esteem. Plus, it provides kids with an important life skill. Cooking teaches them how to problem solve, provide for themselves, and make healthy food choices.

There are tons of ways to get your kids more involved in mealtime, but we’ve got a few ideas to help you get the ball rolling:

Name your favorites
Kick things off by having a brainstorm around favorite meals. Have your kids rattle off their preferred home cooked meals or even some restaurant dishes they want to recreate. Ask them to help make a grocery list and find the ingredients you need at the store.

Follow the food
Most American kids and even a fair amount of adults don’t fully grasp where their food comes from, but this understanding is key to building a healthy relationship with food because it helps us develop appreciation and respect for the plants and animals that keep us thriving. Start by visiting a farmer’s market where your child can see, feel, and smell the fruits and vegetables as well as talk to the farmers about what they do. Back at home, you can get out a map and make a game out of marking where your ingredients came from.

Dole out age-appropriate roles
Even kids as young as two can get involved in meal prep! The key is to assign tasks that are appropriate for your child’s age. Toddlers can help stir batters, pour pre-measured ingredients, or pile on toppings. Young kids (ages 4 to 7) can help measure ingredients and use a butter knife to chop soft foods, while older children can start learning basic knife skills as well as take on some stove and oven duties. Use your own best judgement to determine how ready they are for certain tasks. Your child might even be ready to take over making a part of the meal―and Monj Cooking Lessons can get them on the fast track to head chef duties!

Pile on the produce
Research shows that kids are more likely to eat food that they’ve helped cook, so it’s a great way to get them to try new veggies. You can start as simple as toasting bread and topping it with hummus, spinach and tomatoes, or help them Power Up familiar foods like mac and cheese, pasta, pizza, and burgers with tons of delicious veggies. Putting together simple meals on their own will give them the confidence to keep cooking. More experienced kids might be ready to take the lead on a fun family meal like our Coconut Shrimp Fried Rice.

Have fun with color
Get your child even more excited about fruits and veggies by mixing them up into fun, natural food coloring. For a rainbow of smoothies, start with a base of plain yogurt and frozen banana and then add strawberries (red), peaches (orange), spinach (green), blueberries (violet), or beets (magenta). For the upcoming Easter holiday, you could even try some homemade egg dyes. Try purple cabbage for blue, blended spinach for green, pomegranate juice for pink, and grape juice for purple, adding the veggies/juice to the water when you boil the eggs.

Now matter how old your children are, cooking together makes great memories. Crank up the music, play with your food, and have fun in the kitchen!