Once our children (and now grandchildren) were old enough to stand on a step-stool to do work on a kitchen counter, we involved them in simple cooking tasks. This is particularly grand during the holiday season when there's extra baking to do. Baking together with your child can be quicker than if you banish them from the kitchen, with them showing up every few minutes to ask a question. It can also be a fun learning experience for your child, teaching them basic kitchen safety, elementary cooking techniques, and even a lesson or two on good nutrition.
Adult supervision is the key to cooking or baking with kids. Since children develop cooking skills, using small motor skills, at different rates, here's a general guide of what to expect from children in the following age groups:
Ages 3 to 6 years:
- can stir ingredients in a bowl
- able to wash fruits and vegetables
- under direction, can add ingredients to a bowl
Ages 6 to 8 years:
- able to fill and level measuring spoons and cups
- can pour liquid ingredients into a measuring cup
- coordinated sufficiently to beat ingredients with a wire whisk
- can use a full knife to cut soft foods
Ages 8 to 10 years:
- can use an electric can opener
- ready to learn how to operate and use a microwave
- able to prepare simple recipes with few ingredients with little adult intervention (In case of an apparent problem, don't immediately 'jump in' to help, unless safety is the issue -- this affords them an excellent lesson in simple problem solving)
Ages 10 to 12 years:
- can use the oven; teach proper use of oven mitts and where to place the hot dish when removing it from the oven to avoid burned fingers or scorched countertops)
- use a knife with supervision
- use a hand-held grater to shred ingredients (warn about keeping little knuckles away)
Ages 13 years and older:
- can make recipes with multiple ingredients
- able to use an electric mixer without supervision
- prepare recipes without supervision (it's always a good thing for you to be at home until they've demonstrated proficiency)
When baking with children, we've found it easier to 'set up' the project on a baking sheet before we start the mixing and baking. This not only keeps down the mess, but it insures that all ingredients will be added as a chattering youngster can often distract one's attention. To prevent bowls or baking sheets from slipping, keep in place with a dampened dish towel underneath.
Take the kids shopping for the baking or cooking ingredients. Many supermarkets now provide 'kid-size' shopping carts giving you an excellent chance to teach some supermarket etiquette, how to select ingredients, and, as they help you track down unfamiliar ingredients, spark their interest in trying new tastes.
When you're ready to start baking, teach your children to thoroughly wash their hands before and after handling foods.
As we were growing up, eating uncooked chocolate cookie dough and licking the cake batter from the bowl was a given childhood right. Unfortunately with the introduction of possible salmonella contamination, eating raw dough or licking any batter containing uncooked eggs is possibly asking for disaster. Instead offer a cookie while still warm from the oven or another special treat that will fit within your child's meal plan.
Most foods have an interesting history behind them. Share these stories with your children to entice them to try new foods. For example, kiwifruit is also called Chinese gooseberry and first came to the United States from New Zealand, where the a 'kiwi' isn't a fruit, but a native nocturnal bird (like a bat, it only comes out at night) that can't fly.
Teach kitchen cleanliness by quickly cleaning up any spills and putting containers of food away once the ingredients are all assembled. Wash by hand or stack the dishwasher with any used bowls, mixing spoons, etc. before going on to another recipe.
As you're making a recipe, use culinary terms, explaining them to younger children as needed. If necessary, demonstrate a particular technique, a time or two, covering their hand with yours.
Bake: Cooking by dry heat in an oven.
Batter: A mixture containing flour and other ingredients that can be poured or dropped from a spoon.
Beat: To mix rapidly with a wooden spoon, wire whisk, or electric mixer to make the mixture smooth and ingredients thoroughly mixed together.
Chop: To cut food into small pieces.
Coating a Pan with Cooking Spray: Lightly spraying a pan with cooking spray to make it easier to remove the food, once baked.
Cream: To mix margarine, sugar, and sometimes eggs together, until mixture is light and fluffy.
Dice: To cut food into very small cubes of the same size.
Dough: A thick mixture of flour and other ingredients, stiff enough to be shaped with the hands.
Fold: Gently combining a light substance into a heavier mixture, like beaten egg whites into a cookie batter) using an over-and-under motion with a rubber spatula.
Grate: Cutting food into thin shreds by rubbing the piece of food against a special utensil that has sharp-edged holes.
Mince: To cut food into very tiny pieces.
Preheat: To turn the oven on to the desired baking temperature before putting the food in the oven to bake.
Separate: To crack an egg, pulling the two parts of the shell apart, letting the egg white fall into a small container, slipping the yolk back and forth between the two pieces of egg shell until the white is gone, then placing the yolk into another container. (Be careful with small children doing this; you're likely to end up with mixed whites and yolks).
Stir: Mixing ingredients without beating, by moving a spoon through the ingredients in a broad circular motion.
Ready? Let's start baking! We're providing three recipes from our earlier Joslin Diabetes Gourmet Cookbook that are sure to please youngsters, whether or not they have diabetes.
