Kids in the Kitchen

Trying to figure out how to fit making, serving, and eating a nutritious, delicious meal into your day? Want to spend more time with your kids and set them up with healthy habits for life? It can be as simple as inviting them into the kitchen to cook with you! It may seem daunting at first, but getting kids to cook early has so many benefits, for you and them. Kids who help prepare meals:

1. Are more likely to try new foods,
2. Like more vegetables,
3. Build their self-esteem,
4. Grow up with healthy eating behaviors, and
5. Eat more of the meals they helped make.

Children gain such a sense of accomplishment when they can share, "I poured the water" or "I made the salad."

And for you, an engaged child in the kitchen means a sous chef for years to come. As confidence builds, children can take on more tasks to speed up meal preparation and divide responsibilities in the household. Another added benefit is that you will have more time to chat with your kids and strengthen your relationships.

Joint cooking activities increase quality time spent with children and are a great way to encourage adventurous eaters. Cooking together can teach or reinforce lessons in a variety of topics adaptable by age and skills:

1. Discuss colors, shapes, and counting with ingredients,
2. Reading recipes can increase vocabulary,
3. Recipe measurements teach fractions, multiplication, and division, especially if halving or doubling a recipe,
4. How food grows and the chemical changes that happen with cooking cover scientific topics,
5. Culture and family history can be shared through traditions and recipes,
6. Creative minds can enjoy decorating food, creating recipes, and taking photos of the finished products,
7. Healthy habits are learned through food safety and serving sizes,
8. Working together and sharing space teaches social skills, and
9. Fine motor skills are practiced while cooking.

How Do I Begin?

Timing is everything!
Make sure you and your child are well rested so that everyone is less likely to get frustrated. Start with a day that is less hectic in your home; this is often a weekend meal. Start slowly and give children breaks if there is a lull in the action.

Choose recipes and tasks that reflect interests and abilities!
Start with recipes that have five or less ingredients and that they like. Be sure to have all the ingredients ready so you can focus on helping kids learn new skills.

Cooking is a skill; practice is needed!
Adults can use this time to practice planning and patience. Kids can learn new skills one at a time and build upon those skills with regular practice. If you are new to cooking, you too can learn new skills alongside your child.

Embrace the mess!
Supervision is key, but a mess may be inevitable. It is important to keep the mood light and encourage positive behaviors. Think of ways to make the most of your space and equipment, like using a larger bowl than needed to help keep ingredients contained for enthusiastic mixers.

Focus on food safety!
Create a set of house rules together and outline who is responsible for which tasks. Rules can change as skills are built. Children can have their own drawer or container of tools for them to use so that sharp utensils are separate from safe ones. Slow progression of skills and tasks will help keep everyone safe. Always follow food safety basics:

1. Wash your hands in warm, soapy water for 20 seconds before and after handling food.
2. Clean work surfaces and utensils.
3. Keep raw meat, poultry, and seafood separate from cooked and other ready-to-eat foods.
4. Cook to proper temperatures.
5. Refrigerate promptly to 40°F or lower.

Start slowly!
Start by inviting your child into the kitchen while you cook. You can offer them tastes of ingredients and talk about the colors, scents, flavors, and textures. This can be a low-stress way to introduce new foods. Children can help select a recipe or rename a family favorite. Very young children can play with measuring spoons or cups while you cook.

How Can Children Help?

Remember, each child is unique, but you can use the following outline as a guide for engaging kids in the kitchen.

3–5-Year-Olds

While their motor skills are still developing, young ones are eager to help.

1. Wash produce
2. Add and stir ingredients
3. Tear lettuce and greens
4. Name and count foods
5. Help build sandwiches and salads
6. Cut soft produce with lettuce knife (claw and saw technique)
7. Use cookie cutter to cut items into shapes

6–7-Year-Olds

Fine motor skills have developed, and they can help with more detailed work.

1. Peel washed produce
2. Set the table
3. Measure ingredients
4. Pour liquids
5. Cut herbs or green onions with clean, blunt scissors
6. Crack eggs into bowl
7. Spread soft spreads

8–9-Year-Olds

Skills will vary, so tailor the tasks to what your child can do.

1. Use a can opener
2. Check food temperatures with a thermometer
3. Form meatballs or burgers
4. Put away leftovers

10–12-Year-Olds

This age group can work independently with less supervision. Ensure they can follow kitchen safety rules before leaving completely alone.

1. Boil pasta
2. Microwave foods
3. Follow a recipe
4. Bake foods
5. Simmer items

 

Working together in the kitchen can increase your child’s self-efficacy and set them up for a lifetime of healthy habits. It is important to remember that supervision is key and to start small and go slowly. Once they master some skills, kids can make great sous chefs, saving you time!

For additional resources and recipes, check out these websites:

1. MyPlate Plan: Learn food group and calorie targets by age, gender, and activity level for you and your family members
2. FoodSafety.gov: Follow the four steps to food safety at home
3. ChopChop Family: Kid friendly recipes to try as a family
4. Cooking Matters: Recipe resource; can be filtered by kid-friendly options

References

1. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Teaching Kids to Cook. Updated October 14, 2024. Accessed November 27, 2024.
2. Allirot, X, Quinta, N, Chokupermal, K, & Urdaneta, E. Involving children in cooking activities: A potential strategy for directing food choices toward novel foods containing vegetables. Appetite. 2016; 103: 275-285.
3. Berge JM, MacLehose RF, Larson N, Laska M, Neumark-Sztainer D. Family Food Preparation and Its Effects on Adolescent Dietary Quality and Eating Patterns. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2016; 59(5): 530-536.
4. Farmer N, Cotter EW. Well-Being and Cooking Behavior: Using the Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment (PERMA) Model as a Theoretical Framework. Frontiers in Psychology. 2021;12: 560578.
5. Hamner HC, Dooyema CA, Blanck HM, et al. Fruit, Vegetable, and Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake Among Young Children, by State — United States, 2021. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2023; 72:165–170.
6. Marsh LE, Kanngiesser P, Hood B. When and how does labour lead to love? The ontogeny and mechanisms of the IKEA effect. Cognition. 2018; 170:245-253.
7. Michael SL, Jones SE, Merlo CL, et al. Dietary and Physical Activity Behaviors in 2021 and Changes from 2019 to 2021 Among High School Students — Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2021. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Supplement. 2023; 72(Suppl-1):75–83.
8. Radtke T, Liszewska N, Horodyska K, Boberska M, Schenkel K, Luszczynska A. Cooking together: The IKEA effect on family vegetable intake. British Journal of Health Psychology. 2019; 24(4):896-912.
9. Van der Horst K, Ferrage A, Rytz A. Involving children in meal preparation. Effects on food intake. Appetite. 2014; 79:18-24.

April 2025