Great Ways To Get Kids in the Kitchen

Easy suggestions for getting your child involved

From preschool-age on, kids love to lend a hand in the kitchen. Here are a few great tips and recipes to make the most out of your family kitchen time:

Kitchen Play with Preschoolers

Your toddler probably spends a lot of time playing in your Tupperware drawer, but by the times he's 2 or 3 he may be ready to actually help a little.

• Whenever possible, let him pour ingredients into a bowl and mix them with a spoon. For instance, try making Pork and Pepperoni Pizza Burgers and letting your little one pour in the breadcrumbs, sprinkle the oregano and stir the mixture.
• If you have a tedious job like picking out pebbles from dried beans or lentils, let your child try her hand at it. She may not have the attention span to finish the job, but it will likely keep her busy for a few minutes.
• If you're baking, invite your child to punch out cookie or biscuit shapes, brush them with egg or melted butter, and decorate them with crazy colors.

Cultivating Skills in Early Elementary

Elementary-age kids can help even more with the tasks they did as preschoolers, and by kindergarten they likely have the coordination to learn a few new skills.

• Many kids will also be able to measure ingredients with some precision. With a little help, they should be able to collect ingredients for a recipe. It's a good idea to have your young assistant measure ingredients into individual bowls rather than combining them as they go. When you are certain that everything is accurately measured, together you can practice mixing.
• Young kids will love to help make sandwiches or spread and sprinkle ingredients in a recipe like Tostadas with Pork. They can also prepare vegetables by picking the stems off of beans, picking leaves from herbs, washing carrots and potatoes and drying lettuce in the salad spinner.
• By now, cookie decorating will be more of an art project than a free-for-all and they may even be able to use the spatula to place finished cookies on the sheet without assistance.
• Most kindergarteners can crack eggs with a little assistance. Some may even be able to separate them and almost all will be able to beat them together in a small mixing bowl.

Rising Star Chefs

As kids approach the upper elementary school grades, they'll become a little more independent in the kitchen and will likely require less supervision.

• Now that they can read, these kids should be able to follow simple recipes such as coating pork chops with breading for a Fried Pork Chop recipe. Have them assemble the mix and dip the chops and you can finish off the job.
• Kids this age love to help do things like mash potatoes and knead bread or pizza dough. If you really want to have some fun with them, make your own pasta dough and have them roll it through a pasta cutter.
• As they near the end of the elementary years, most kids can peel and chop. Make sure the peelers that they use have a protective guard over the blade and always teach them to peel away from themselves to avoid injury. Have them practice by cutting up vegetables and meats for a stir fry that you can later cook for dinner.

Big Kids and Beyond

Once kids reach middle school or junior high, if they've been listening, watching and participating at home they should be pretty capable cooks. Of course, it's still important to supervise cooking and chopping whenever possible, but they can probably tackle a project like All-Star Pork Meatballs. By high school they may even be ready to use the skillet for an easy recipe like Quick Pork Fajitas.

This recipe is a hit with kids. They are sure to love the burger and pepperoni combination. Ask them to help with mixing the ingredients and forming the patties. Serve with carrot and celery sticks.

Pork is the meat of choice in Mexican dishes so lean ground pork is perfect for this savory filling. It's perfect as a tostado-topper, a taco-filler or as a filling for enchiladas.

Fun for kids to make-and eat, too! These meatballs are oversized and cook easily in the oven. Scalloped potatoes and buttered green beans make the meal complete.

Tender strips of pork and mild spices wrapped in a flour tortilla can be made as fast as they can eat them.