Growing up, my mother never let us help in the kitchen. Some days, as two kids swirl around my legs as I try to cook, I understand why. But, my daughter sometimes asks to help, and she takes real pride in the jobs she can do on a regular basis, such as stirring the pancake batter or getting rice ready to cook.
Here are some ways your little ones can start to help out in the kitchen.
- Place it – Super simple job for the youngest child. Place the pepperoni on the pizza. Place the nuggets or veggies or cookies on the sheet.
- Press it – Press the buttons on the microwave, blender, popcorn popper, stand mixer, or oven. All supervised, of course!
- Spread it – Grease a pan with butter. Spread jam with the back of a spoon.
- Mix it – Works for just about everything! Hand them a spoon, and let them use up some of that energy.
- Pour it – Pour pre-measured ingredients into a bowl, and then pour mixed ingredients into a pan.
- Break it – Use their bare hands to appropriately break ingredients. Snap beans, shell peas, crack eggs, shuck corn, make bread crumbs, peel an orange.
- Shake it – Shake the dressing in the bottle. In a sealed container, shake meat to coat it in breadcrumbs or shake dry ingredients to mix them.
- Time it – Set the timer and help keep track of the time remaining.
- Measure it – Pour or scoop ingredients using the proper measuring cup or spoon. Tell the adult when the liquid hits the line in the measuring cup. Use a butter knife to level off a cup of flour.
- Cut it – Use a butter knife to cut soft ingredients such as bananas, cream cheese, avocado, butter, tofu, or strawberries.
- Wash it – Pull a chair up to the sink and have them scrub the potatoes or wash veggies as you chop.
- Decorate it – Enjoy the sugar frenzy of frosting, sprinkling, and otherwise decorating cakes, cupcakes, and cookies.
- Sprinkle or squirt it – For those with a little self control, let them sprinkle the spices or squirt the olive oil.
- Gather it – Ask them to find and bring you all the ingredients and tools you will need to cook.
- Set and clear it – Let them set and clear the table for the meal.
