Get ready to get the kids in the kitchen with these 5 Tips for Teaching Kids to Cook.
This post is sponsored by Gorton’s Seafood; however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
My kids have basically grown up in the kitchen with me since most of our daily lives revolve around cooking; however, they are both just starting to get more to the age where they can cook more on their own.
This is nice for me, but I am also learning a few tips along the way that seems to work well for us when teaching cooking as a life skill.
One thing I have found that is a great help when teaching them to cook some meals on their own is to use easy to prepare meals such as Gorton’s Seafood and their Crunchy Breaded Fish Sticks.
I let the kids take the reigns with these and make Fish & Chips for dinner. My daughter loves to take part and get everything organized to go into the oven. I still do that part for her; however, she does a great job at getting each item prepared so that it’s ready to go into the oven.
Why do we love Gorton’s Fish Sticks?
The first thing I love is that they come in a resealable bag, this means you can use what you need and save the rest for later. This works well for us when the kids are craving fish sticks. It’s so easy to make just the right amount.
Gorton’s Seafood uses high quality, wild-caught Alaska Pollock and they are flash frozen at the peak of freshness, which really locks in all that flavor.
The best part for all of us moms is that they are 100% whole fish fillets with no fillers, no preservatives, no artificial colors or flavors, no hydrogenated oils, and no antibiotics. They are tried and true, protein-packed, omega-3 filled fish!
Basically, all the good stuff is packed into a delicious crunchy fish stick that’s perfect for the whole family.
What age should you teach your child to cook?
Kids are ready to help in the kitchen when they are just in the toddler years, but over time they begin to grow and learn more skills in the kitchen.
By age 8, they are typically ready to help plan out meals and do some basic cooking like following simple recipes.
When teaching kids to cook in the beginning, I highly suggest a simple food such as these fish sticks because it’s easy to prepare. It really gives them the sense that they are in fact preparing dinner and get to enjoy it too!
My daughter is nearing 7 years old and this was a great way to get her involved in dinner plans and she was ecstatic that she cooked dinner.
As they get closer to the middle school years, then start to do more complex meals.
5 Tips for Teaching Kids to Cook
Start teaching kids to cook at a young age
It’s best to start teaching kids to cook at a young age. Even as toddlers they can assist you in the kitchen, mixing ingredients or helping you get ingredients out of the pantry or cabinet.
They can also wash vegetables as they get older and assist with mashing potatoes. As they get older, they can do more like boiling eggs and using the oven.
Start with simple meals and then move to more complex recipes
This is why I love meals like Fish & Chips using Gorton’s Seafood. It’s a simple way to get the kids involved in the kitchen without having to read a full recipe just yet. This is a great one for those elementary years.
They can easily place the fish sticks on the baking sheet along with the french fries. This helps them build their skills by utilizing the oven, with the help of a grown-up and preparing the dinner.
As they move into the pre-teen or later elementary years, then add in a little bit more complex recipe such as fish tacos.
Remember the basics
Start small and with the basics, remember they will want to know how to scramble eggs, make toast, boil pasta, and these types of basic methods involved in cooking. I would say that even baking cookies would fall into this category.
Teach them the basics and then branch out from that into the more complex recipes. It’s also fun to teach them family heirloom recipes too.
Safety is always important
Remember to teach them safety rules especially as young kids because we all know knives are off limits but sometimes they don’t understand that.
Also the oven, it’s HOT and this needs to talk about and something you remind them of when cooking at young ages and even as they get older.
How many times have we burned ourselves as adults? It does happen but we need to remind them of the safety rules in the kitchen too.
Remember that cooking is a life skill but not everyone will LOVE to cook
Don’t be upset if your child doesn’t really LOVE to cook, not everyone will. We all enjoy different things; however, you can let them know that it is a life skill.
They will need to learn to cook and know how to manage the kitchen in order to take care of themselves as they get older. These are great skills that can be taught as kids to make it a simple transition into adulthood and cooking for themselves when they are on their own.
Remember as they are kids especially to have fun in the kitchen, don’t make it a stressful place, mess ups may happen…but HAVE FUN! That’s really what it’s all about.
If your kids are older, remember it’s never too late to learn to cook!
I should know, I taught myself all the complex and even some of the basics just about 10 years ago when I started this website. So if I can do it, you can too.
Now it’s time to enjoy some time in the kitchen this weekend and some of Gorton’s Seafood Crunchy Breaded Fish Sticks.
Sounds like the perfect dinner to me!
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