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Cooking together with kids can be a fun way to teach them valuable skills, promote good nutrition and make long-lasting memories in the process. By teaching your kids the basics in the kitchen they can grow their confidence and take on more challenging recipes with greater independence. To help them get to this point check out our top tips for how to get older kids excited about cooking.

There are various elements of cooking that older kids can help out with such as prepping the ingredients, frying, and baking. But remember, every head chef needs a sous chef to help out so no matter how good they get, make sure you stay nearby to supervise!

Prep with Patrick

Prepping the ingredients for a meal is one of the most interactive parts of cooking, as well as being the least time sensitive. This means you can take your time during this step to focus on the importance of food and kitchen safety, and also teach them how to prepare different type of ingredients.

Some tasks they can assist with during preparation:
• Wash the ingredients – not under the sea though, a sink will do fine!
• Measure ingredients
• Chop, slice, and dice fruits, vegetables and more
• Chop chicken and other raw meats. (Note: Always use a separate cutting board for ready-to-eat and raw foods, and be sure to wash hands with warm, soapy water after handling any raw meat)

Fry like SpongeBob

We all know that different food types have different cooking times. Therefore, before you hand the reigns in the kitchen over to your little sous chef, it is important to teach them how long it takes for certain ingredients to cook and how to know when they are done.

Frying can be a little bit tricky at first, especially when too much oil is used; don’t forget that once oil gets hot it starts spitting and kids could easily burn themselves. It is important to teach kids how much oil they should use, how to cover the pan with a lid and how to adjust the heat for the stove. When cooking food, whether it’s frying, baking or boiling, we would always recommend adult supervision.

Some tasks they can assist with:
• Allow them to fry and simmer ingredients on the stove. Start simple by cooking scrambled eggs and pancakes under your guidance – and move up to Krabby Pattys!
• Boil pasta, potatoes, and rice
• Help to put food in the oven – don’t forget oven gloves!
• Check the temperature of meat with a food thermometer – it's like a science experiment!

Start your very own Bikini Bottom Bakery

Who doesn’t like a tasty chocolate chip muffin or a slice of a mouth-watering banana bread, especially when it’s not you who has to make it? As your child gets older and more confident in the kitchen you can allow them to treat you with delicious baked good, which can cheer up even the gloomiest of days.

Depending on the age and experience of your adventurer, we recommend that you lead the baking for the first few times and always remain close by especially when they are ready to move the baked goods in and out of the oven.

Some tasks for them to do:
• Beat the eggs
• Measure, melt and combine ingredients
• Place the batter onto a tray or a pan
• Decorate cupcakes

Hopefully, these tips give you plenty of ideas of how you and your little chefs can get cooking together in the kitchen. If you are stuck on things to cook together, check out our blog section for recipe inspiration. Keep it fun, engaging, and simple!