Teaching kids to cook leads to lifelong rewards

If you want to help your kids learn to eat well, teach them how to cook. According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, cooking isn’t just a useful life skill — it also helps kids build their math, science, literacy, and fine motor skills with hands-on learning. And the key to helping build your child’s interest in cooking is to start young and be consistent.

Very young children might develop an interest in helping out in the kitchen around 18 months — clear away any hazards (such as sharp utensils, heavy or hot items, cleaning products, and trip hazards) and let them help with washing vegetables, stirring room-temperature ingredients, sprinkling flour, and decorations or spooning ingredients into bowls. Toddlers will also have a blast just watching you work, so consider setting up a safe place for them to watch you in action.

Between three and five, kids will develop greater dexterity and a desire for independence. Let them roll out dough with a rolling pin, cut soft ingredients (like soft fruits or vegetables) with a plastic knife, tear lettuce for salads, or snap stems from string beans.|

Five to seven-year-olds might be ready to take on basic knife skills, or they can use kid-sized scissors to snip herbs. Measuring is a great way to practice math skills, and they can also help set the table and clean up after meals.

Eight to 11-year-olds are ready for more complex tasks, like planning meals and following simple recipes that gradually build their cooking skills. They might also be ready to use a stove and smaller appliances like a stand mixer or food processor (with your supervision, of course).

Above all, learning to cook should be fun, not daunting or stressful — don’t worry about a few messes or dinners that don’t turn out quite as you’d hoped. Relax, include your children as much as you can, and enjoy watching them bloom into curious, independent chefs.