Getting your kids involved is key to healthy eating. Cooking together teaches your children how much goes in to preparing food, and it provides an opportunity to talk about where food comes from and how it comes to be. Cooking together also allows your children to feel a part of the process. Involving your children around the home helps to build confidence and self-esteem, and with the opportunity to help in the kitchen, they feel proud that they contributed to the meal. They learn values of respect, patience, and inquisition – all of which are so very important.
In my home, we have found that one fun way to cook with our daughter is to use books for inspiration, so today I’m sharing the tips and books we’ve discovered along the way…
Tips for Cooking With Kids
- Pick a book for inspiration. {See list below for ideas.}
- Find a recipe. {Pinterest is a great repository for recipes.}
- Make a grocery list. Have them help you write the list by drawing pictures of the items you need.
- Go grocery shopping together. Have your kiddo cross things off the list. Talk about the ingredients that are needed, where they are found in the store, and what else these ingredients might be used for.
- Prep food together. Consider pre-measuring spices. Get all the ingredients you will need and have them accessible.
- Allow your children to be involved. Let them dump ingredients in to the bowl, mix, wash dishes, etc.
- Embrace mess. Things will get on the floor. Things will get on the counter. After all, a messy kitchen is a sign of happiness.
- Don’t expect Pinterest perfection. Have fun!
Books To Get You Started
- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
- Thunder Cake
- If You Give a Moose a Muffin {and all the others that are part of this series}
- Dragons Love Tacos
- The Popcorn Book
- Rainbow Stew
- Sweet Potato Pie
- Mei-Mei’s Lucky Birthday Noodles
- Pizza at Sally’s
- The Enormous Potato
- Grandma Lena’s Big Ol’ Turnip
- Green Eggs and Ham
- The Princess and the Pizza
Help add to this list! What’s your favorite children’s book about food? Let us know in the comments below!
We made stone soup when I was young. My best friend Ethan and I had a lot of fun. Our moms Marguerite and Jill indulged us and we loved it. We also picked chamomile and made chamomile tea. It’s strange to think that 30 years ago there was chamomile growing in Chicago and places where we could pick it, wash it, and make tea. We also picked from a mulberry tree that was on the path to the beach at Montrose in Lake Michigan. We made pancakes and waffles with the buckets of mulberries. It all started with stone soup, though. There are many versions but the one from the late 80s early 90s we had was always my favorite. I believe the Steganona books also have food in them. I am remembering a lot of books from my child hood with food now. It’s nice to think of doing fun stuff with my baby when he’s older. This is a great idea. I am a first time mom, an old first time mom, a single mom, and doing it very alone. I was looking up llama llama info and the author and found your page. Thank you for speaking about her and for what you are doing. I feel really alone and am very isolated. You are really thoughtful to create a collective for moms where you live . Thank you for sharing this stuff.