Cooking with Kids: Making Lasting Memories in the Kitchen

Some of the most precious memories adults have are the ones from childhood. That’s a time when life is easy and fun, a time when playing and exploring new things is the only thing kids do. But that is also a time when the family is always in the picture because the family is the children’s sacred haven.

Our own home is one of the first places for making memories, especially the kitchen because it’s its heart. It feels about right to give your little ones core memories of having fun in the kitchen while making food together. The whole process will be messy for sure, but your kids will love it, and they surely won’t forget the obligatory ‘licking of the spoon’.

Teach Your Child About Safety First

Each job has its own pros and cons, so helping your child understand safety is paramount. While teaching him about this, don’t forget to do it the fun way, and be sure that he’ll remember these things, and one day, he’ll teach his kid the same way you did.

Clothes Protection

The first lesson you’ll have to teach him is about what is the use of aprons in the kitchen. Given the fact that the main reason for the use of aprons is to protect your clothes from getting spills and stains, you should teach your child about this.

The chances that he won’t mind getting messy and stained (because he’s a child) are huge, but, you can help him wear an apron for kitchen use all the time when in the kitchen by wearing one yourself. The choice of this handy kitchenware these days is huge, so give your child the chance to pick his own unique apron for kitchen use. You can even pick matching aprons for the whole family, so everyone can get involved in cooking while wearing the same aprons.

This could become a tradition that your child will remember for the rest of his life. The only thing you could do tough is help him make the right choice, material-wise. Aside from choosing a full-length (bib) apron for the kitchen, you should also help him pick a material that’s hardwearing and perfect for daily use.

Ideally, you should pick kitchen aprons made from cotton because it’s durable and soft, perfect for children’s use. It’s a material that can be washed numerous times without changing its condition.

Depending on the colour you choose, cotton allows for being washed at higher temperatures, and it also allows for the use of different stain-removing cleaners. Because of this, you won’t have to worry about stains staying on it.

But the most important thing above all for your child especially, is that cotton allows being dyed, printed and embroidered, meaning that your child can choose from a large selection of these kitchen items and pick the most appealing one for him.

Knives Use

When it comes to cooking, the truth is that there’s no cooking without knives. The choice of knives is huge, but the one thing we all know is that all of them pose danger to kids, especially the smaller ones. Children love cutting and slicing things with knives, but if your child doesn’t have the age to deal with regular knives, you should look for kids’ knives, such as plastic or nylon ones.

Both of these are safe to use by children since they cannot cut themselves. The only thing you should do tough is teach your child how to use them. Teach him how to position his fingers while slicing in order to prevent injuries Even though he cannot cut himself with them, he’ll learn how to deal with knives while cutting which will be of great help once he transitions to the use of regular knives.

Cooking Hat

Children love to feel important and like adults, so in order to make things even more fun when cooking together, you should invest in cooking hats as well. A cooking hat will help him feel like a real chef and he’ll feel even more important.

Now while this is all fun and great, you should also teach him about the reasons for wearing a hat while cooking. Teach him that women and girls should always have their hair tied up, and the use of hats is mandatory for everyone in order to prevent hair and sweat from contaminating food.

Cooking and Baking with Children

Truth is that baking and cooking isn’t all about eating the food you’ve made together, it’s more about enjoying the whole process of making tasty food together. And no matter how much you love having everything tidy and organised even when cooking, prepare for a mess. Let things go and enjoy the whole process with your family, but once done, teach them about the importance of cleaning up after themselves. Do it together and make it fun, put on some music and start dancing while cleaning.

Choose Simple Recipes

This goes especially to those of you who are cooking together for the first time. Focus on simple and tasty recipes that can be done with ease. This could be chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes, a simple cake, salty snacks, etc.

Encourage Your Little One

No matter how simple or difficult is his chore in the kitchen, it’s of vital importance for you to encourage him throughout the cooking process. This will help him build confidence and will help him enjoy cooking. This is something that’ll stay with him forever.