Cooking with Love For Dad This Father’s Day
There’s no greater gift than something homemade. Especially when it comes to a delicious and thoughtful breakfast prepared by your kids!
Giving your kids the ability to play in the kitchen and create is one of the best things you can give yourself and them. The culinary skills that they begin early in life will help them to cook nutritious meals for themselves as teens and adults. Kids that start cooking earlier in life are also less picky when it comes to trying new foods. This important life skill is often overlooked in our busy world, but we have some tips to get them started in the kitchen this Father’s Day for a gift that will rock his world!
Kitchen tasks are best delegated depending on the age and development progress of your child. Note that all kitchen activities should be supervised by an adult for safety.
Ages and Cooking Stages
If you have a 2-3 year old, they can help mash soft items; stir and whisk; wash and dry fresh produce; and sprinkle herbs and spices.
4-5 year olds excel in the easier tasks and some may be able to move into the 6-7 year old range while others may just need more practice with these initial tasks.
Overnight Oats is an excellent recipe to work on with your 2-5 year olds. Top them with fresh fruit and a sprinkle of cinnamon in the morning before serving to dad!
The 6-7 year old group is now ready to move into measuring, peeling; pouring and mixing dry ingredients with wet ingredients; grating; and slicing very soft fruit and vegetable items with a butter or plastic knife. They will need close supervision with these tasks, especially with grating cheese. Protect those fingers and knuckles!
8-9 year olds may need to stay with the these tasks a little longer but some may be ready to move on to using hand mixers and food processors. Other tasks that this group may learn include using can openers, pounding out meats, skewering food, slicing breads and learning the clean-as-you-go skills. This age range can be exposed to baking in an oven with adult supervision.
Here is a great recipe for the 6-9 year old group: Mix up some adorable Mini Ham and Cheese Frittatas with this age group and serve with freshly toasted and sliced bread. Dad will love starting his day with these!
Kid’s that are 10 and up that have been cooking for several years are ready to be almost independent in the kitchen. They need reminders to practice knife safety, to turn off appliances when not in use, and always use oven mitts (and caution) when handling hot pots and pans.
Here is a great recipe to challenge those with advanced culinary skills: A twist on the classic grilled cheese by making it with breakfast ingredients, this Breakfast Grilled Cheese will be a Father’s Day staple for years to come.
Let us know if you make one of our recipes for dad this Father’s Day by tagging #milkmeansmore
Information for this blog gathered from The Kids Cook Monday initiative, which encourages families to set aside the first night of every week for cooking and eating together as a family.
