Some kids have a natural love for the kitchen. They will follow you into the kitchen. These kids often like playing with pots and pans rather than toys (well, most kids do!).
My advice is to let them. Encourage this curiosity and attachment towards cooking because this develops both their motor and cognitive skills. There is nothing better than rolling out the dough to develop fine motor skills in preschoolers.
Age Appropriate Cooking Skills
Introducing age-appropriate cooking skills at an early age not only inculcates healthy eating habits but also helps the kids in achieving many developmental milestones early on. Their motor skills will improve. They will learn and try different foods, experiment with the recipes not only that but while doing all that, they will learn what it takes to get the food ready to eat.
Preschoolers (2-5 years)
I know this sounds like a really small age but believe me you can try some of the simple tasks with them.
Do keep in mind, he is small and has a small attention span so try doing activities that require less time. You can buy a small table and a chair and let them have their own working space to encourage them.
Some age-appropriate kitchen skills you can encourage are:
- Stirring the batter
- Washing the vegetables for you.
- While you are having breakfast as a family, let your kid try to spread peanut butter and jelly on a slice of bread himself. This activity will help him work on his skills and believe me; he will have fun as well.
- Give him cookie cutters and let them cut the cookies in different shapes; this will also help him learn shapes.
- Another very interesting activity you can try with the kids is measuring ingredients, doing this you are introducing fractions at an early age which will help him easily understand the subject with time.
Young Cook (6-8 years)
Well! Your kid is getting bigger with age and is getting taller; now he is more interested in what you are doing at the countertop and wants to be a part of it.
If you think it’s appropriate you can involve him with knives and kitchen appliances:
- Give him fruits and vegetables to cut, though under close supervision.
- Ask him to mix the batter with a hand mixer and prepare the dough.
- Ask him to boil pasta or eggs for you, if you are comfortable that is.
I let my children fry vegetables while I stand by and supervise. This will require a lot of patience at times because there will be spills and splashes. As a young cook, they will be interested in reading the recipes and even finding the ingredients by reading labels on bottles or jars.
Preteens (9-12 years)
If your kid is involved in the kitchen since his early years then it’s not that difficult for him to try a small recipe on his own. Even if the recipe is lengthy, he will be able to do a lot of steps by himself without your supervision.
Now is the right time to:
- Teach him to turn on the oven and stove.
- Do let him try the food processor and blender on his own. He may not be a pro at it but you can try to be patient with him.
- Let him try the knives on his own and let him slice vegetables or fruits for the fruit salad.
And remember there are a lot of ways to do a task, sometimes you learn from your kids. They have curious and analytical minds; if they have questions, let them search for answers on their own but do give them hints.
Teenagers (13-16 years)
Your kid has been working in the kitchen for long now, he is a pro. Let him decide what he wants to cook and let him prepare the food on his own. At this age, no supervision is required. Through your patience and hardwork, he has learned more than basic skills to survive in a kitchen.
He will be able to handle kitchen appliances, knives (really well), graters, slicers and what not.
You can also now involve him in outdoor cooking like grilling on a BBQ stand. And you will see that he is able to work with charcoal grills very smoothly. Also, let him try cleaning after cooking whether it’s the countertop or charcoal grills.
As always, I hope these age-appropriate cooking skills will help you encourage your child’s love for the kitchen and healthy eating. If you do have concerns about your child’s development and would like to set up a free consultation to discuss your concerns, please reach out! I would love to help you determine your child’s individual needs. We are here to support you as you help your child blossom!
Have you tried any of these age appropriate cooking skills with your kids? Or, do you have other fun activities to share? If so, please join us in our FREE Facebook community to share!
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