Top tips for cooking with pre-schoolers
My days of cooking with pre-schoolers are numbered (approximately 185, assuming LB starts school mid-September), so I thought I would note down what I have learned, so I can look back fondly and also in case it is of use for other people.
- CBeebie I Can Cook s your go-to resource, whatever your opinion of Katy and the format (persevere if you can bear to / try not to get too distracted). Not so much for the recipes themselves, although LB loves his book. But for brilliant ideas for alternative ways kids can do things you would think are too difficult - using scissors to cut lots of things, 'popping' peppers, describing rubbing-in as 'tickling', how to crack an egg (I know how to do it kinaesthetically but I had no idea how to describe it until I heard Katy do so. LB has been cracking eggs tidily into bowls since he was 2). The I Can Cook recipes typically use small quantities and that's a good idea you can apply to any recipe because preparing lots of an ingredient is too boring for most kids.The 'have you washed your hands?' song at the beginning of each session may be very annoying and earwormy but it's sheer genius for reminding me too to do this.
- A recipe book which shows you photographs of all the ingredients and equipment is great for kids who can't read yet. Unfortunately our one has very few good recipes in it.
- Just accept the chaos and mess. There is very little point trying to control mess at the time - you just end up constantly shrieking in alarm (well, I do) and spoiling the child's fun. Just resign yourself to a major clear up afterwards. That said, a couple of damp soapy cloths easily to hand is usually a good plan.
- Alter your mindset. Or, at least, the more you can do so, the more fun you will have, especially with younger kids. You are not primarily aiming to 'make a cake' or 'prepare supper' or whatever. You are aiming for the child to have the opportunity to taste/feel/smell all the ingredients, play with the tools, pour the liquids, do each particular task. As a side benefit, you will probably end up with cake, or supper or whatever, but if I focus on that I end up getting frustrated and hurrying the child on. Live in the moment!
- Which is not to say that you can't also cook with kids when you are time pressured and really need to get the recipe done as quickly and efficiently as reasonably possible. Older pre-schoolers are perfectly capable of cooking in a fairly sensible and tidy fashion. But, IME, cooking in these kind of circumstances is less fun for everyone and is more likely to lead to the child wandering off halfway through having got bored (which can be very handy).
- Different kids like and dislike different things about cooking - adjust your activity to suit. PB likes decorating things with great care and attention and he likes eating sugar. He doesn't usually like getting his hands dirty. He mostly ices and decorates cakes and biscuits. LB likes to plunge his hands right into all the ingredients and have a really good feel (every cake he makes has one of his handprints in it, otherwise it doesn't taste right). He also really likes using tools and tasting everything. LB makes lots of cakes and puddings and he also regularly prepares (and consumes at the same time) vegetables.
- A single bladed mezzeluna is a perfect tool for toddlers. Yes it is lethally sharp but the clear separation of the handles from the blade makes it very easy for a young child to understand where their fingers must not go. The rocking action is an easy one to learn and the very sharpness of the blade means that toddlers have sufficient strength to cut. With a knife, they generally don't have enough strength to cut anything tougher than a banana, which is rather limiting.
- Vegetable peelers are also good tools, the 'Y' shaped kind of ones especially so as they seem to be easier to control. Graters are not a good plan - almost impossible for them not to grate their fingers too. Katy uses a hand mill kind of thing but I never got one. For older pre-schoolers, sharp knives are better than blunt, obviously, and teaching them to put the flat side of anything downwards really helps.
- Don't have electronic scales like mine which don't work on the table but only on the worktops. This really limits children's ability to do the weighing stuff. St Katy recommends the old fashioned balancing sort but I'm not sure I'd buy a pair specially (well, clearly I didn't).
- Liquify butter/marg in a the microwave rather than just softening and then creaming it with the sugar, as the recipe says. It's much easier for children to mix and doesn't seem to affect the final result (in fact I do this when cooking on my own now, it's much kinder on my arms).
- Resist the urge to take over - children lose confidence and interest when you do that (at least, mine do)
- Recognise that activities that you think are completely inconsequential necessary preliminaries to the real activity can still be fun for kids e.g. opening a packet, getting the mixing bowl out of the cupboard, greasing the tin.
- A bowl full of soapy water on the table at the end of the session is handy not only for cleaning up the child but also for keeping them occupied with washing up tools while you wipe the floor, chairs, walls etc.