How to Involve Your Kids in the Kitchen

I’ve always loved to cook.  Cooking is an outlet I use to relax and express my creativity. You can regularly find me watching the Food Network any time my TV is on. I mean, what’s better than a Chopped or Chopped Jr. marathon on a lazy Sunday?

Since I love cooking, we usually eat home cooked meals every night for dinner.  However, that time period before my husband gets home from work when I’m trying to prepare dinner is also usually the witching hour for our lovely daughter.  I’ve often struggled with how to focus my attention on my daughter while simultaneous trying to cook dinner so that it’s ready to eat at a certain time.

Of course I know I could plan ahead and prep for dinner during nap time or a few days before.  But let’s be real… life happens and things don’t always work out as planned.  My current to-do list of things I have to get done while Taylor is napping is so long already, that it seems impractical to add dinner prep to it as well.

If Taylor sees me trying to cook, she immediately runs into the kitchen after me yelling, “up, up, up!” meaning that she wants me to stop what I’m doing and pick her up. It was extremely frustrating in the beginning having to choose if I should pick up my daughter and play with her like she wants or rather continue cooking dinner and ignore her while she throws a tantrum.

The one solution that I’ve found that works really well is to involve her in the cooking process. Kids LOVE getting involved with whatever their parents are doing.

So now when Taylor runs over to me and wants to be picked up when I’m trying to get dinner ready, I assign her a small task that I know she can handle.  That way, she doesn’t feel ignored, but rather the complete opposite.  She feels like she has a purpose and she WANTS to help.  It’s amazing to see how she beams with pride once she completes her task.

Activity:

Involve kids in the meal prep or cooking process.  Some possible ways to do so are:

• Add shredded cheese to a dish (pizza, tacos, etc.)
• Place vegetables on a baking sheet for roasting
• Hand over a cooking utensil (spatula, spoon, fork, etc.)
• Turn on the faucet to fill a pot with water
• Put a used utensil in the sink or dishwasher
• Use a paper towel or cloth to clean up any spills or wipe the counter when finished
• Use a cookie cutter to make food, such as sandwiches, into a fun shapes
• Stir or mix ingredients together in a large bowl

Comment below to share your favorite ways to involve your kids in the kitchen!

 

*Please note that this page may contain affiliate links to different products and I receive a small commission that helps support my blog when someone purchases something from the links.  I don’t recommend stuff I wouldn’t use myself 🙂