Top tips for cooking with pre-schoolers

[menthe_reglisse]

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.

Comments

[menthe_reglisse]

Good!

[menthe_reglisse]

the more the adult intervenes and does anything other than verbally direct, the less the process (and end product) feels to the child like it's theirs
This! Yes, absolutely. It's challenging for me because I'm an interfering sort of person with perfectionist tendencies. Sometimes it helps if I'm doing some parallel cooking or other kitchen task, so I don't focus on them too much (less so if the mezzeluna is out).

[bethanthepurple]

As an auntie, I love this!

[menthe_reglisse]

Good!

[minnesattva]

I don't think I've ever cooked with preschoolers but I cooked as a preschooler, and I distinctly remember the joy of stuff like greasing the pan -- maybe because it was a kind of controlled mess you were not just allowed but supposed to make? It was useful! I also had a percectionist decorating brother (he also used to whip pancake batter until there were No Lumps At All, making the procress of mixing it up take much longer than it should).

[julietk]

This is v useful, thank you!

L has "helped" me make biscuits twice (ate handfuls of mix at all stages, stuck spoon into bowl and wiggled it, ate more handfuls of completed dough) & is fascinated to watch cooking, so am hoping to be able to cook more with him sometime soon! He can also open a packet of pasta now, though possibly not deliberately... (He did put a couple of bits back into the packet when he saw what I was doing, bless him.)