Learn Life Skills in the Kitchen

Want to save your sanity? Have your kids start helping you in the kitchen. My 4-year-old loves helping me in the kitchen, when weโre baking, sheโs the first one to volunteer and loves adding the ingredients and mixing. She also loves to add the mixture to the baking dish or muffin tin, with help of course.
I figure that this is our time to hang out while teaching her some life skills at the same time. If she loves cooking from a young age, perhaps sheโll go on to become a chef and cook for me instead, wouldnโt that be awesome?

Learn life skills in the kitchen
Peel and chop fruit and vegetables
My 8 year can handle the vegetable peeler and peel carrots and cucumbers if I need them. My daughter loves to watch and canโt wait to try it, sheโs content making her own peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for now. Iโm getting her a wavy knife so she can learn to chop veggies as well, with supervision of course.
Start with breakfast
My oldest can make his own eggs and heโs responsible for his own lunch when weโre all home. He doesnโt always want to eat what the littles are having so heโs welcome to prepare his own meals. It almost always involves eggs. Heโs been in a huge egg craving mood this past month. Heโll have it scrambled or fry it up in a sandwich. As long as the kitchen is cleaned up afterward, I donโt care what he has as long as he eats it all.
Make dessert
If you have kids that are not interested in cooking, make a dessert and see how fast they come to your side to help you. Get them excited, have them follow the recipe and grab the ingredients. My boys can measure everything out on their own. Iโve lost my 1 cup measuring cup so we had to use the 1/2 cup instead. Turn it into some math problems. If I need 3 cups of flour, how many of these 1/2 cups do we need to use?
Make them responsible for a meal
Our rule is that if you didnโt cook it, you canโt complain. My boys will voice their dislike over what I make but it includes healthy vegetables and stuff they wish they didnโt have to eat. Well, make your child responsible for a meal and then they can choose what to make. My son does our pizza nights, cooks the fries and gets the veggies already.
Is it easy? Yes, but heโs taking responsibility. Has he burned stuff? Yes, but now he pays more attention to what he is doing while heโs in the kitchen because burnt fries are not good.
Get them a cookbook
Get them excited about cooking and creating in the kitchen and youโll see that theyโll want to experiment and try new things. I love it and encourage it any chance I get. It will be messy and not everything will turn out the best but theyโll learn from it.
Kid Chef Bakes: The Kids Cookbook for Aspiring BakersKid Chef: The Foodie Kids Cookbook: Healthy Recipes and Culinary Skills for the New Cook in the Kitchen
Good Housekeeping Kids Cook!: 100+ Super-Easy, Delicious Recipes (Volume 1) (Good Housekeeping Kids Cookbooks)
The Ultimate Kidsโ Cookbook: Fun One-Pot Recipes Your Whole Family Will Love!
Let them use their own tools
Buy them their own kitchen tools so they get excited about using them and then youโll see them jump to your side when youโre ready to start dinner. I love little helpers in the kitchen.
StarPack Nylon Kitchen Knife Set (3 Piece) โ The Perfect Kids Knife, Lettuce Knife and Safe Kitchen KnifeJoie Fruit And Vegetable Wavy Chopper Knife, Stainless Steel Blade, Colors Vary
Curious Chef Childrenโs 6-Piece Fruit and Veggie Prep Kit
Rikiโs Kingdom kids Cooking & Baking Utensil Set, 21-Piece Safe Kitchen Tools,Pizza Cutter/Rolling Pin/Spatula/Whisk/Ladle/Pastry Brush/Veggie Peeler and Cutters/Apron/Hat/Recipe Cards
Dinner and a Movie: Squanto-A Warriorโs Tale-KT at Lit Mama Homeschool
How to Help Your Sensory Kids Enjoy Holiday Meals โ Ginny at Not So Formulaic