My friend Anne has a husband, two daughters and a cow.
(The cow is relevant information…stay tuned.)
Anne is doing an excellent job teaching her kids in the kitchen. I am constantly amazed at what they are already capapble of.
One day, they were preparing dinner for company…and Anne realized that it was time to go milk the cow. (see?)
They had everything out and ready to put a lasagna together (including ingredients for homemade lasagna noodles)…
So she looked at her then eight year old and said, “Hannah…you’ll have to finish making this lasagna. Just put it into the oven when you’re done…and then turn on the oven so that you don’t burn yourself.”
And then Anne went out to milk the cow.
And when she came back into the house…she smelled lasagna baking.
Hannah knew how to put a lasagna together (using homemade noodles), all by herself… when she was eight!
So here is my point and my tip for today:
Don’t underestimate what your kids are capable of in the kitchen!
They can learn anything you teach them to do!
Get them in there and love your time together teaching and training!
For the next several days, I’ll continue to write about what to do with the kids in your kitchen!
I’ll cover topics like:
Little guys in the kitchen
Simple things for your kids to make
Teaching your kids about healthy eating
Kids cleaning up the kitchen
Kids helping with menu planning
More!
I’d love to hear your questions and ideas about your kids in the kitchen!
More Kitchen Tip Tuesday…
Devildogwife says
My daughter helps cut the veggies (she’s 8). We had family over and you would have thought I had 2 (or maybe 4) heads when they watched me hand her the knife to cut the veggies for dinner. I watch her while she’s cutting, and I’ve taught her how to properly hold her fingers out of the way of the knife.
She loves watching cooking shows like Good Eats with Alton Brown. She’s intrigued by why/how things work together when we bake/cook.
Granted, I don’t cook with her as much as I would like, but I tend to cook while she’s playing outside these days. :)
Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home says
Great post- I’m actually just completing a series on very similar topics! My daughter is only 3, but I am trying to train her in the kitchen at a young age, so that she will be capable of doing much of the cooking and cleaning soon (by soon I mean, in several years, not quite yet!).
I’m so encouraged to hear that this mother has done the same thing, with wonderful results. Good for her!
Kirstin says
Hi! Glad I came accross your site. I’ll be back.
My girls are 9 and 12 and they love being in the kitchen. I too believe in letting them in the kitchen at young ages. There are too many young adults who have no clue how to get around in a kitchen. Love this story.
Edi says
I am always surprised when I hear of what kids were doing in the “old days”. One day we had an “older” lady at our house for supper. She was in about 1st grade during WWII and she was telling how her school class was knitting for soldiers!
My dd (8) would love more freedom in the kitchen – I guess I’m just scared to let her…plus it’s so much faster to do it myself.
Thanks for the encouragement to let our kids do more…
Maureen says
My question is regarding young twins. My boys are almost 3 and the idea of cooking together the 3 of us sounds really overwhelming. Suggestions for twins (and active ones at that) would be great! Thanks.
CC says
My son has been active in cooking and baking since he was less than 2. I know I should be more careful (he even helps with things on the hot stove), but so far we’ve been lucky. I think he’ll be independently making meals by the time he is 8! The only problem is that he is a little too confident. 2 weeks ago he tried to make his daddy toast, but he put a plastic plate in the toaster along with the bread!
Sweetpeas says
To the person who asked about twins, I have almost 5 yr old twin girls. We do lots of taking turns. Sometimes I invent “turns” (if we need to add a cup of something I’ll sometimes use a half cup measure & fill it twice so they each get to dump one in). If we’re working on the stove they take turns climbing up on the one chair to dump stuff in, since 2 chairs puts one too far away. If we’re not at the stove I generally put them on each side of the corner of the island w/ the bowl between them. For stirring we generally all 3 take turns, so I can get stuff really stirred & they each get a turn too. . . I’ve never really thought about it being harder to cook with twins, let me know if you have specific questions :)
toni says
Wow!Thank you for this post.I will be visiting with you again tomorrow!Have a great night!