Cooking fun for you and your kids!

Cooking with children can have many benefits, and there are so many different ways to do it. You can start cooking with your kids at different ages and as they get older you can add in varying degrees of responsibility. Read on to learn about the different possible benefits and the ages in which different roles may fit. Then give it a try with your kids this week (we have provided two options for you!).

Benefits:

• Basic skills: Add vocabulary words by reading a recipe together. Work on listening skills by following the steps to a recipe. Practice simple math by counting eggs, pouring water into a measuring cup, or when asking what comes first, second, and third.
• Problem solving: Converting recipes and substituting ingredients if you are missing what is required.
• Teach planning and organization: Kids engage in thinking ahead and how to prepare for a meal by coming up with a grocery list or weekly family dinners. 
• Encourage an adventurous palate. From the start, kids are more likely to sit down for the family meal if they have prepared it. Beyond that, preschoolers are known for how picky they can be, and bringing them into the kitchen to cook can help get them to open up to new tastes. Encourage kids to taste new ingredients you're working with and talk about what they like and how healthy foods make a body grow. Nutrition is something that many schools don’t teach until kids are in middle and high school. Cooking with your kids helps teach them how to eat healthy and make informed choices about the food they eat.
• Help young kids explore with their senses. Kids learn by exploring with their senses and the kitchen is an ideal place to do that. Invite them to listen to the whir of the mixer, pound dough and watch it rise, smell it baking in the oven, and finally taste the warm bread fresh from the oven. If it smells good, looks appealing, and is easy to eat they may just be willing to try it!
• Boost confidence. Preschoolers love to show what they can do and working in the kitchen provides opportunities to gain a sense of accomplishment. If they helped assemble the pizza, let them know that their help was important. You could name the pizza or another dish after your child. Serve "Will's Pizza" or "Ella's Salad" for dinner tonight. Even if the end results are not exactly what you expected, praise their efforts.
• Connect with your kids. Creating something that others can enjoy, especially during the holidays, helps make special memories for you and your little ones. You can form and reinforce bonds, and foster family togetherness by teaching cooking at home. You are also giving kids the opportunity to feel like they are accomplishing something and contributing to the family.​
• Teach appreciation. Kids will learn that the meal that they sit down to doesn’t appear out of mid-air. Their food comes from somewhere, and involving them from shopping to the finished product will help demonstrate that hard work goes into the meal they enjoy.​

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Under 5 years old:
A few tasks in the kitchen are particularly well-suited to kids ages 3 to 5. The key is to give them "jobs" that meet their skill level and are something they enjoy.

• Scrub, dip, tear, break, and snap (for example, snapping the ends off green beans)
• Shake, spread, and cut with a cookie or biscuit cutter
• Peel (some items), roll, pound, juice, and mash
• Remove husks from corn
• Wash vegetables in a colander
• Measure and pour some ingredients
• Stirring pancake batter
• Tearing lettuce for salad
• Adding ingredients
• Assembling a pizza
• Helping you "read" a cookbook by turning the pages
• Hand mix​

8-10 years olds:
Everything listed for under 5, plus some more advanced duties, such as:
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• Cracking and separating eggs
• Reading some recipes by themselves
• Inventing their own easy-to-fix recipes
• Using the electric mixer (with adult supervision if needed)
• Stirring food over the stove (with adult supervision if needed)
• Using and reading a candy thermometer (with adult supervision if needed)
• Operating a can opener or food processor with safety features
• Grating cheese
• Cutting vegetables, fruits, etc. (using a plastic knife or dinner knife)​

Pizza Crescent Rolls*
*borrowed from messforless.net
Ingredients:

• 20 minutes, start to finish
• 8 crescent rolls
• 4 string cheese sticks
• 8 tbsp of Marinara sauce
• (optional) Pepperoni, Broccoli, or other toppings that you like

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees (you could make in a toaster oven).
• Cut cheese sticks in half so you have eight half pieces.
• Unroll the crescent rolls and separate into eight triangles.
• 1 tbsp of marinara sauce on each triangle of crescent dough-  spoon the marinara sauce into the center of the largest part of the crescent.
• Put half of a cheese stick onto each crescent dough. 
• Roll up the crescent around the cheese stick.
• Pinch off the sides so that no sauce or cheese is visible.
• Bake in a 375 degree oven for 9-12 minutes until the crescents are a golden brown.
• Dip into warm marinara sauce or enjoy them as is!​ ​

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Healthy Bites*
*borrowed from laughingkidslearn.com
Ingredients:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup saltanas
• 1/3 cup cranberries
• (optional) 1 stp marmalade or orange peel

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 356 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Throw all ingredients into a bowl and mix well.
• Roll into small balls.
• Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
• Enjoy!

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Let us know how it goes and post some of your own recipe ideas for kids below! :)

XoXo, Team ELM