Little Kitchen Helpers

About author / Christine Gable

Culinary enthusiast; kids cuisine and slow cooking; magazine recipe developer; professional writer. Her simple recipes are great for family dinners.

Ever since my children could stand beside me on a stool in the kitchen, I have given them age-appropriate tasks. It probably all started when they were tucked in a portable baby seat on the countertop, right in the heart of the action. Whether washing dishes, mixing up cookies or putting dinner together, they learned at a very young age that the kitchen was filled with creativity—and interesting, ultimately delicious activities.

The key to making them want to help is to not make it into another
chore. For example, when I'm working in the kitchen, I'll call out "Who would like to slice the tomatoes for me?" A regular task, yet one that can be said in myriad tones of voice—I attempt a mysterious, yet (hopefully) compelling, exciting invitation. Or, “Who would like to slice the eggs in our new slicer?” And inevitably someone will come running. And on the days when they’re involved in something of their own creation that’s more pressing, that’s OK too—it’s part of the enjoyable, non-pressure environment I aim to create.

The very-important second step is to give them the task and then back off. Often, I will prep the task, show them how to do it and turn my attention to another cooking activity at hand. Don’t hover or correct. Trust that they’ll ask if they need help—and seeing that you believe in them naturally builds confidence. Hovering and critiquing their work would be detrimental to anyone, even more so to a young learner.

Even small children can be trusted with a small-serrated knife to slice potato strips into chunks, or chunk another soft vegetable, such as a cucumber. Snack time can also be fun by practicing with a real knife—slicing bananas with a small serrated knife gives them much-needed experience in handling real tasks and real tools. It helps to have a safer knife or two stowed in the utensil drawer that is not as sharp or dangerous as your regularly sharpened chef’s knives. Completion of small, easy tasks encourages self-esteem in a grown-up job well done, in addition to seeing their contribution is valuable. And the mess really does get to be less the more they help.

Experience breeds ability. Ability breeds success. Success breeds confidence.

Each time my children have helped prepare a meal, they have not only improved their cooking skill, they have taken a special pride and interest in that food, now knowing how it was prepared—quite a difference from just having Mom or Dad fly around the kitchen and plop down a plate in front of them filled with unknowns. I firmly believe encouraging my children to help with food prep has encouraged them to be explorative, enthusiastic eaters!

And confident kids not only are fun to work with, but they make wise food decisions and grow up with healthy attitudes about food. I like to think of if as chopping, stirring and simmering as one more way to raise healthy, self-confident kids that can make their own wise decisions.

Watch for future articles filled with fun suggestions and recipes for little fingers. Here’s a simple tossed salad that is a great starting point for dinner.

Serves/Makes: 4

• 1 head lettuce
• 1 carrot
• 10 cherry tomatoes
• 1 can (15.5 ounce size) chickpeas
• 3 hard-boiled eggs
• salad dressing of your choice