Cooking with Kids; How to teach kids to cook

I’m sharing our cooking with kids experiences with KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese Dinner as part of a sponsored post for Socialstars #Youknowyouloveit

One thing I really love about my mom is that she took time to teach all of her kids to cook. She was busy running a home, but still made sure there was time for cooking with kids. And she taught us each valuable skills to help us with our own families.

I never really appreciated the amount of time and patience my mom put towards this until I was grown and on my own. When I found people at college that didn’t know how to do something as simple as boiling water or even cooking a piece of toast, I developed a newfound appreciation for my mom and all she taught us.

So now that I’m a mom I see the value of cooking with kids. I want my kids to have the same skills that my mom taught me, so I am following the same methods of how my mom taught us to cook. And I’m going to share those with you!

Cooking with Kids Tips

When you are cooking with kids there are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Keep it age appropriate. A 3 year old shouldn’t be working a gas stove. Common sense is important. As the kids get older they can learn more things, however at very young ages they should be only assisting you with small things like pouring in the pre-measured ingredients into the bowl. My boys are now 10 and 11, and old enough to learn basic recipes. So with my supervision; they are learning how to cook simple meals on the stove.
2. Always supervise. When you are teaching your kids to cook, always supervise. Kids often aren’t as aware as adults. The last thing you want is a kitchen fire or your child hurt. You can easily stand back and let your older child do all the work, but it is important that you are there supervising. This way if they have questions you can help or if there is an emergency you can step in.
3. Keep it fun! Kids don’t like chores, that’s a given. So keep it fun! Let your kids help pick out the meals they want to learn how to make. That was a big thing my mom did. She said it was my turn to learn how to cook dinner. But what we cooked was my choice. I spent that time not only learning how to cook, but we had fun talking about things happening in my life at the same time. Those are special memories I will forever cherish.

My kids have learned to make classic treats like air popped popcorn, french toast and Rice Krispie Treats. Once my mom taught us how to make these simple things, she then moved onto the simple and classic KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese Dinner.

It is such a simple dish to make for the family. And something that helps kids easily learn the basics of cooking. Not to mention it creates a classic family dinner that everyone will love!

Simply begin with boiling water. Then move onto the sides while the water boils; like throwing together an easy salad mix or cleaning and prepping fruit.

Then back to the water where the kids will learn to cook the macaroni, which is also very handy for many different meals in the future.

Then how to drain the macaroni, and finally how to mix in the cheese sauce, milk and margerine or butter.

Lastly teach the kids how to measure portions and enjoy a delicious dinnertime dish that they had a major part in making!

At the end, your kids have learned invaluable skills to help them in their life, build confidence and make a delicious dinner they will be more apt to enjoy since they had a part in making it!

To make things even more exciting, Kraft just announced that starting in 2016 their KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese Dinner will be free of synthetic colors and artificial preservatives! With family members and friends who are sensitive to food dyes and preservatives, this is very exciting news for us! KRAFT is giving America the product they are asking for while maintaining the cheesy goodness you know you love! Doesn’t this make you excited? It sure makes me excited! I can’t wait!

It’s yet another great reason to keep a classic family dinner, part of our family tradition. And lets me keep using our KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese Dinner during our cooking with kids lessons!

What are your top reasons for cooking with kids?