Cooking with School-age Children

Your school-age child can do everything a toddler can do in the kitchen with the added benefit of doing it better, faster and neater. What a fun phase you’ve entered into. These kids are learning math and science skills in school that can be honed and even benefited from working with you in the kitchen. Another bonus is that by the time children enter school, most have grown out of the picky-eater phase, and their willingness to try new foods cooked in new ways increases – a bit. (They are still kids, after all.)

School-age children know what they like to eat. Now is a great time to show them that the food they like can be made in healthful and delicious ways. Show them a healthful way to make a turkey burger or baked chicken nuggets from scratch. Explaining to them how fast food restaurants need to change foods or prepare them in unhealthful ways will make a huge impact on the food they choose when they are away from you.

In addition to everything a toddler can do, school aged children can:
• Crack and separate eggs
• Read recipes and learn terminology in recipes
• Invent their own recipes
• Stir food on stove, use an electric mixer – both with adult supervision
• Grate cheese
• Open Cans
• Using safe food processors – also with adult supervision
• Cut softer fruit and vegetables with dinner knives
• Knead dough
• Make pizzas
• Prepare their own snacks like “ants on a long” with peanut butter celery and raisins, or cheese and crackers

There are many cookbooks aimed at school-age children that have easy-to-follow recipes with great photos of the steps involved. Invest in a few and spend time looking through them with your child. Let your child pick a dish: a main course or maybe just a side; then cook it together.

Also, if you have the time and space, consider planning a garden with your school-age children. Learning the origins of the food they eat, and watching that food grow, encourages kids to want to eat and cook with that food. If you don’t have much time or space, consider a mini herb garden in a sunny window or a container garden and make its care your child’s responsibility, and remember to work what you grow into your menus.