I’m going to level you, when I introduced mini m (age 7) to chopping there was a moment when I audibly inhaled. He heard it, looked slightly alarmed, I tried to put my calm face back on. I could see the knife getting near to his fingers, the same fingers I’d really prefer that remained attached to his hands, and more than ever, the NHS do not need us adding to their day.
Having said that, cooking is a really important skill and why not start them young. I’ve baked with mini m since he was much younger but cooking/food prep has been lacking and while he’s now at home for the foreseeable future I’m determined to teach him a few things.
So here’s some tips/advice:
1. Allow time. If you’re preparing something for a meal, it’s going to take a lot longer that if you were doing it by yourself.
2. Chopping – start with something soft, turns out raw Carrot is actually quite tricky as it’s so hard. Potato is softer. To begin with, hold the vegetable for them while they concentrate on cutting. Supervise, you don’t want a chopped finger alongside the veg!
3. It’s going to be messy, especially with younger ones. Let go of your urge to clean everything, let them experiment, clean after.
4. Apron & Equipment – kids love copying you. If you have an apron, see if you can get a kids one. Give them their own bowl, knife, mixing spoon etc let them feel that they are really involved.
5. Choose recipes that are short or have breaks, i. e when biscuit dough has to be in the fridge before baking. Kids don’t have a long attention span and you don’t want them giving up half way through. Ditch the 24 stage recipe, keep it simple.
Choose recipes that you know they love or alternatively if you want them to try something new, if they are involved they are more likely to try it.
6. Sneaky learning – For children who can read, ask them to read out the ingredients and then find it. Similarly ask them what to do next, let them have control by reading out the method.
Measurements – they’ll learn different units of measure, Tbsp, tsp, grams and ml. Let them use the scales, if too much goes in, you can take it out or to be honest, unless it’s an avalanche of flour which goes in, it will likely turn out OK!
7. Not so sneaky… After you’ve finished you can ask them to write out the recipe. It’s a record of what they have achieved and practices handwriting. You can even ask them to draw it too.
8. Divide the tasks between you and do it together, side by side chopping!
9. Let them lick the spoon!
10. Remind them when they are eating that they made it. Give them a real sense of achievement.
Techniques to try: Chopping, peeling, stirring, weighing, spreading, blitzing.
Recipes:
Keep it simple. I started with that we were having for lunch, soup. This involved chopping and blitzing – everyone loves a bit of blitzing!
Don’t forget, getting children in the Kitchen can be as simple as making their own sandwich. Let them haphazardly spread the butter and cut the cheese, they love the satisfaction of doing it themselves.
Favourite dinner – include them in the prep, show them how you do it.
I plan to bake several meals/cakes with mini m over the next few weeks/months and I’ll share these with you on Instagram and Facebook.
Books:
Nadiya Hussein – Bake me a story collection are brilliant. The stories are as great as the recipes.
Here is the soup recipe we made:
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/carrot-coriander-soup
And tonight we’re soaking the fruit for brack cake:
http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/22490/fruit-brack.aspx
Most of all, enjoy and let me know how you get on.
The baking moose 