“Cooking with kids is not just about ingredients, recipes, and cooking.  It’s about harnessing imagination, empowerment, and creativity.”

Guy Fieri

Summer vacation!  I’ve been looking forward to doing nothing all year!  Well, I found out my boredom plans were put on the back burner and were replaced with a bunch of blue cue cards.  Written in my mom’s classic script (not printing…cursive) was a recipe book name and page number.  The recipes were vegetable-heavy and all to be taken from the garden.  She would have all the other items in the fridge that were needed.  

We had been helping my mom in the kitchen up to this point, in the little ways kids do.  But this time – I was to do it all on my own.  I could call her if I were really stuck (or ask my sister, but that was considered cheating). But it was best if I could figure it out on my own.  She said it wouldn’t turn out sometimes, but it didn’t matter – learn and have fun.

So there my summer was spent.  It was two-fold: I was going to learn how to cook from scratch, reading and cooking an entire recipe on my own.  And I was going to learn how to identify and (correctly) harvest vegetables.  I think she also wished it bred me a green thumb, but that was a little slow growing…(see my Why Garden article).

Looking back, I shake my head.  My mom, newly widowed, raising three kids, and working full time, managed to make somehow a whole summer’s worth of recipe cards for me, all carefully chosen so most ingredients were from the garden.  She knew it was good for me, and she was right.  I loved it.  I felt independent, and my confidence grew in the kitchen and the garden.  And as a young girl, that was powerful.  

I also experienced an incredible feeling: the happiness that comes from giving.  I was helping my mom like a little sidekick helping the superhero.  After all day of crime-fighting (at the office) and coming home exhausted, she could have a fresh, home-cooked meal ready (that was hopefully edible).  It was small, but to a kid – small things seem enormous.  And now?  I still love to cook.  My favourite ingredient?  Homegrown vegetables.  

The benefits of teaching kids to cook are endless.  It enhances math and motor skills, reading and comprehension, concentration and focus, dexterity, multi-tasking, and life skills like being safe around stoves and using knives correctly and safely.  It introduces them to SCIENCE!!  It also builds confidence and resilience (lots of things don’t turn out!) and lays the foundation for healthy eating later in life.

So, parents:  kids love work.  We really do.  We may complain, roll our eyes, and drag our feet…but ultimately, we’ll love it.  And we’ll feel good.  And we’ll be happy.  And kids are smart.  Give them a chance to figure things out on their own.  

And kids: don’t be afraid of work.  It’s not scary.  It’s not boring (even though at first it may seem like it).  It’s a challenge sometimes, yes, but what isn’t? Don’t you feel the most accomplished when you build that extra big snowman?  Climb that super large hill?  When you push yourself to run to one more soccer base?  Or when you finally passed that game level, you kept dying on?  See it as an adventure.  And you may be surprised how much you end up loving it.  Believe us.  We were kids too.

Oh, and: vegetables are really good.  Really.  Just wait.

Why is Cooking and Baking Good for Kids?

Cooking Up Enthusiasm Through Reading

BAKING BOOKS

Getting Started

See Cooking with Kids for suggestions, tips, and resources.

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