Why Kids Should Help In the Kitchen

When you let your kids help you out in the kitchen, they learn valuable life skills, and you learn the patience of a saint. So, basically a win/win situation. I let my first born daughter, April, start honing her mad culinary skills at age three. The confidence she has now, three years later, is remarkable. At the tender age of six. she has lapped some of my peers on the maturity track as she can cook healthy meals ALL BY HERSELF. While I, of course, do the classic mom-maneuver of "watching while pretending not to watch so she doesn't feel like she needs to be watched".

It's important to let your kids make a mess, too. Don't let the fear of your kitchen looking like the aftermath of a prison riot stop you from letting your little ones experiment in the kitchen. I know we all try to teach our children to do things the 'right' way, but little hands using big utensils will ultimately end up with some spillage and imperfection. Who cares? When you're done with your cooking lesson, a cleaning lesson just seems natural.I remember a couple years back, my husband came home to me standing on a ladder wiping the kitchen ceiling. I told him that April had made her own smoothie, but hit the blend button before we had put the lid back on. You have never seen a child so terrified and then instantly elated with herself as when that food started flying through the air! A mess that took me a half hour to clean up is a memory that will make us laugh for years to come.

When it comes to kids in the kitchen, I say, "Let them eat cake! And bake cake! And make a good ol' mess to clean up!" Trust me, you won't regret it. And when they are little expert chefs and want to make meals for the family, that's one less thing for you to do. Win/Win!