Teaching Kids to Cook

Helping children of all ages become comfortable in the kitchen isn’t difficult—all it takes is patience and a little planning.

Tonight, my 11-year-old son is making his specialty: Mexican Rice Bowl, from Cooking Rocks! Rachel Ray 30-minute Meals for Kids cookbook. He’s made this meal enough times that I have to offer minimal assistance. Earlier this week, his 10-year-old brother made Chinese soup, while his 13-year-old sister served hamburgers and French fries, and his 15-year-old sister made vegetarian chili with quesadillas.

On a typical week, each of my children has their own night to cook dinner. They already regularly make their own breakfast, and take turns during the school year to make lunches for all themselves and their siblings.

Do I have children who simply love to cook? Not exactly. But what I do have is a long-term goal that each of my four children will know how to cook a variety of things, including how to put a dinner on the table for the entire family. With six of us, that’s not an easy task, even for a veteran cook like myself. But the value in knowing their way around a kitchen and the appreciation for churning out a meal that’s edible is incalculable.

No matter what the ages of your children, you, too, can teach them how to cook. But before I dive into tips on exactly how to do that, here’s what you should teach your children related to cooking.

Your children should learn how to handle a knife safely and chop a variety of fruit, veggies and meats. Supervise of course, but allow them to practice chopping and slicing on their own.

Kids should learn what constitutes a healthy meal, including how many sides to serve and how to pick them. In other words, show them why having French fries with pizza isn’t healthy, and how to pair a main course with vegetable sides.

Kids should also learn how to plan a week’s worth of dinners, and why noodles shouldn’t be served at every meal and starches like rice and potatoes should only make an appearance once a week. Balanced meals also means a balanced weekly menu too.

Kids should learn to cook a variety of things, including vegetables and dishes they don’t particularly like.

Kids should also be allowed to make mistakes. I’ve never forgotten the time as a 14-year-old I mixed up a teaspoon with a tablespoon and added way too much salt to a cake. I had to throw the entire two-layer frosted cake in the trashcan because it was inedible, but I always doublechecked the measurement before adding anything to future recipes!