Kid’s Cooking!
Kids love cooking. Full stop. I’ve yet to meet a child who doesn’t enjoy getting involved …and I’ve taught hundreds from age 4-14. Most like it, others LOVE it, but pretty much everyone is up for a good play in the kitchen.
Some love the creativity, others the mess and some the precision of it. There’s the physicality of beating, rolling, whisking, stirring and chopping and all the toys you get to play with too, from slotted spoons to spring-form tins, funnels to food processors. Cookery is part art, part science so there’s something for everyone!
Watch them become fabulously focussed as they count out tablespoons or weigh onto scales – it has to be exactly the prescribed number of grams: even one either side is not acceptable! The trust that we put in them as they get a bit older and we allow them to use little knives and properly cook at the stove, not just mix or bake, fills them with pride, swelling their confidence and sense of independence.
A seemingly simple task like cracking an egg can create a myriad of giggles and whoops; when they’re in the zone the everyday smells of picking mint or sniffing a ripe tomato creates oohs and aahs like they’ve never seen them before. I even got my daughter to love salad – something she’d sworn was the devil’s work for a decade – by making a step-by-step garlicky dressing together and getting her to taste the difference it made to a leaf of lettuce.
And as they grow in confidence they learn that they can either follow the recipe to the letter or free-style and make it their own – something to be actively encouraged!
When it’s done their faces light up at the astounding alchemy of the finished product. This is the best bit: sharing with friends and family, praise being heaped upon them like cream on a scone. Then they taste it and can’t believe this was all them, proud to their cores. What these experiences do to a child is tangible, beautiful and not to get too heavy about it, potentially life-changing.
This generation of primary, tween & teenagers are, generally speaking, genuinely engaged with the world around them and ‘saving the planet’. Greta, Attenborough and a thousand assemblies have done their job and every school I go into for work - and that’s hundreds - I see projects on the wall about climate change, seasonality and food waste as well as the nuts and bolts of what terms like Fairtrade and Organic mean. The schools are doing their part but we parents have to do ours too – taking time to bond over mixing bowls and chat as you chop together. And I promise you the return on that time investment will pay you back in spades. I can truly say that spending time with kids in the kitchen is one of the most rewarding ways to pass an hour you’ll ever have.
Teach them skills for life, have a laugh, empower them and the end result is the prize: their pride, their joy – everyone’s reward.
Getting children to engage with food and mealtimes has got to be right up there as crucial indoctrination for life, along with times tables and the importance of the Romans. The COOK chefs, George and Jo, & I developed the new kid’s range to not only feed tummies but minds too – the dishes are an introductory education in global cuisine from Indian curries to Asian duck noodles, via some closer to home favourites from those bambino-loving Italians as well as a decent showing of our homegrown British classics.
Good food creates good energy, both mental and physical; and today’s children need plenty of both to navigate their full-on lives. Teaching your kids to cook and just how much fun you can have in the kitchen is just about the most important life skill you can give those you love most in the world. It’s our job, our duty, our pleasure and a right laugh too!
Here are a couple of recipes from my recent award-winning kids recipe book “Chef’s Wanted!” – do try them out, and if you and yours enjoy making and eating them then there’s a link to buy below.
