Cooking with Your Kids is So Much Fun (Trust Me!)

Though cooking with kids can be a bit chaotic, I’ve learned so many tips along the way that make it not only fun for everyone, but also super practical.

My son has been playing in the kitchen since he was tiny (I’m talking high chair tiny). Whether it’s decorating cookies for holidays, rolling out dough for fall pies, or snapping green beans for Christmas dinner, cooking together has always been a family activity in our home. My husband and I love spending time in the kitchen, and we wanted to pass on that enthusiasm to our son. We know that learning kitchen skills is a valuable life lesson—one our parents passed down to us.

However, I’ve heard many parents complain that letting kids help with meal prep only leads to stress, frustration, and mess. While I agree that cooking with kids can get a little messy, I’ve learned a ton of tricks that make the process easier. Not only does it make it fun for everyone, but it’s also really practical.

Prep, Prep, Prep

You know how when you watch cooking shows, the hosts have all the ingredients pre-measured and ready to go? I quickly learned that instead of letting my excited child try to measure sugar and oil, it’s better to have everything prepared and ready before I call him into the kitchen to help. Measuring ingredients takes time, and while you’re smoothing out a cup of flour, your little one will be licking brown sugar or playing with raw eggs. Read through the entire recipe first, gather all your ingredients, and make sure you have all your tools ready—like measuring cups, spoons, graters, juicers, cutting boards, etc.

Here’s another useful tip: if, like me, you get your recipes online (I’m a huge Pinterest fan), reading and following them on devices like tablets or phones can be tricky (too small!). So, I copy the recipe onto my fridge with a dry-erase marker—this way it’s big, clear, and easy to refer to at any time.

Idle Hands are the Devil’s Workshop

I only have one son, so it’s easy to let him handle most of the work in the kitchen. But if you have multiple kids, you need to make sure each one has a job. Give them tasks they can do independently or with the help of an older sibling. When kids don’t have something specific to do, they’ll start looking for their own entertainment—and that’s when the trouble begins!