Thursday, January 29, 2009

Simple Tips for Cooking with Kids

By Ashley King

Children are often enthralled with the idea of cooking, often at an early age. This interest is often heightened by all the cute kitchen toys they play with, along with their ability to imagine just about anything.

There are lots of mini toy kitchens to be found, along with cute little plastic imitations of everything you'd find in a normal kitchen. You'll see just about anything, from frying pans to kettles, and condiments to hamburgers. Pretending to cook is a great learning experience for little ones who enjoy the culinary arts in their mini kitchens. As your child gets a little older, you might want to look at some options for easy cooking for kids.

The easiest way for kids to get cooking is to start with an Easy Bake oven. For some time now kids have been preparing delicious goodies all by themselves, without having to ask Mom to turn on the oven.

Helping out with dinner preparations is another great way to get started. Quite often, cooking becomes more of a pleasure for the parent with the help of a little one. There is no shortage of ways to help out, and if you're baking goodies your child will always be happy to lick the spoon.

The majority of kids enjoy playing in the kitchen on occasion. Yet there are some who seem to have a natural ability for cooking at a young age. And this goes beyond merely dumping clumps of dough onto a cookie pan.

You can make cooking simple and fun for these future chefs. You might find that dessert isn't their only focus, and that they're excited to prepare the entire meal. Who knows, they might get more pleasure out of learning to cook than they do from playing video games. You'll see numerous cookbooks and cooking videos that are kid oriented, full of fast, fun and easy recipes to try out. Don't be surprised if you find that many of these yummy recipes are actually quite good for you.

Encourage your little one to plan an entire meal, with you as the assistant. You can find any number of cookbooks and cooking videos that are kid oriented, full of fast, fun and easy recipes to try out. It might come as a surprise, but not all of these tasty recipes are loaded with sugary and fattening ingredients.

It's so important that you monitor your children carefully in the kitchen as they help out. You'll want something sturdier than a kitchen chair when your child wants to reach the countertop, such as a stepping stool. When something goes in or out of the oven, a grownup needs to be the one handling it, along with anything being tended on the stovetop.

Teach your kids about the possible dangers of the kitchen. Teach them safety precautions to keep them from being injured, but they also need to know what to do when an accident does happen. It's always better to be safe when it comes to the kitchen.

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