“Cook Up” Holiday Fun with Kids

With measuring spoons, baking pans and a few ingredients, families can whip up fun holiday treats while spending quality time together.

“The art of cooking is actually diminishing among families because of fast-paced lifestyles,” said Judy Kallus, registered dietician at Texas Children’s Hospital’s Wellness Center. “Holiday cooking with children is a great way to slow down, pass on family traditions and teach good nutritional habits.”

Before putting on aprons and turning on the oven, parents need to consider these tips:

• Factor in more time. Teaching kids how to cook will take more time than usual, but be patient and you will create cherished memories with a child.
• Expect the experience to be messy, and teach children the importance of cleaning up.
• Start with a simple and fun recipe. Making a simple sandwich or muffins from a mix will increase a children’s self-esteem and they’ll enjoy the fruits of their labor.

• “It’s important to choose cooking tasks that are appropriate for a child’s development,” said Kallus. “If a job is too difficult, it could spoil his or her fun.”

Suggested jobs for little ones, according to age, include:

1 and 2 year olds

• Pour pre-measured dry ingredients and help stir;
• Help shape cookies and other dough;
• Tell a parent when the timer goes off;
• Help decorate cookies and/or add finishing touches like cheese, raisins or icing; or
• Hand a parent ingredients

3 and 4 year olds

• Help measure ingredients;
• Help crack eggs and mix ingredients;
• Shape cookies;
• Help pour batter into a pan;
• Hold a mixer with parent; or
• Arrange food on a serving plate

5 and 6 year olds

• Help read a recipe;
• Learn how to measure and mix dry ingredients;
• Crack eggs and learn how to separate the yolk from the white;
• Learn how to safely use a mixer or wire whisk;
• Stir eggs into a flour mixture; or
• Set a timer

7 and 8 year olds

• Read a recipe out loud; or
• Follow most of a recipe with a parent’s help and supervision, except placing things in or pulling them out of an oven

9 year olds and up

• Follow a recipe without help

“Above all, the key to holiday cooking is to have fun no matter how a recipe turns out,” Kallus said.

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