So what can you expect from your little bakers, butchers, and sauciers? The cooking activities your child will be able to help with will depend on her age. Keep the following in mind when including young children in cooking activities.

One- to Two-Year-Olds

Make sure they are safely restrained in a high chair and give them samples to taste or smear as you keep up a steady stream of commentary. Look for tasks they might be able to accomplish with your help, such as pouring tiny portions of ingredients (e.g., a quarter cup of milk or water) or simply dropping ingredients into a bowl.

Two-Year-Olds

Two-year-olds are learning to use the large muscles in their arms. Try activities such as:

• Scrubbing vegetables and fruits
• Carrying unbreakable items to the table
• Dipping foods
• Washing and tearing lettuce and salad greens
• Breaking bread into pieces
• Pouring and stirring ingredients

Three-Year-Olds

Three-year-olds are learning to use their hands. Try activities such as:

• Pouring liquids into batter (which you measure first)
• Mixing batter or other dry and wet ingredients together
• Shaking liquid in a closed container
• Spreading butters or toppings
• Kneading dough
• Washing vegetables and fruit
• Serving foods
• Putting things in the trash after cooking or after a meal
• Breaking eggs

Four- and Five-Year-Olds

Four- and five-year-olds are learning to control small muscles in their fingers. They are also learning the properties of things (e.g., weight, volume, color, quantity, and so on), the relationships between things, and how substances can be transformed. Try activities such as:

• Juicing oranges, lemons, and limes
• Peeling some fruits and vegetables (bananas and even onions)
• Mashing soft fruits and vegetables
• Scrubbing vegetables (potatoes, mushrooms)
• Cutting soft foods with table knives (mushrooms, hard-boiled eggs)
• Pressing cookie cutters
• Measuring ingredients
• Sifting or straining
• Cracking open/breaking eggs
• Beating eggs with an egg beater
• Making toast
• Baking
• Setting the table
• Wiping up after cooking
• Clearing the table after a meal

School-Age Children

This is the age when children often really enjoy helping parents cook, planning menus and helping in the kitchen. Try making things such as:

• Pancakes or waffles (from either a mix or from scratch)
• Tuna or pasta salad
• Macaroni and cheese
• Soup (try making some simple ones from scratch or adding vegetables and other ingredients to canned broth)
• Cookies: allow your child to roll out the dough, use cookie cutters, make free-form shapes, and decorate before or after baking.
• Vegetables: show your child how to pick out vegetables in the grocery store, and let him decide which ones the family will have at meals (at least some of the time).
• Sandwiches: remember to include lettuce, tomato, carrot curls, or another vegetable.
• Frozen juice pops

Safety Tips for Cooking with Children

Obviously, children of different ages will require different levels of supervision and assistance. But children of all ages, even school-age, need the presence of an adult in the kitchen when cooking, especially when you are using the oven or stove. As with any activity, children tend to get excited and can be impulsive or impatient. It takes a lot of adult patience and reminding to make cooking with children a safe and enjoyable experience. Here are a few ideas about how to keep you and your child safe.

Prevent food poisoning by:

• Always washing hands before cooking.
• Not eating raw eggs.
• Waiting until the food is cooked before sampling it. Do not sample uncooked foods.
• Always washing cutting boards.

Pay attention to your child’s body position and center of gravity. Have your child stand at the level of the activity. Bring in a small table if necessary at which the child can stand or kneel. Use a secure stool or chair if necessary, but watch the child carefully.

Use cooking supplies that will not break, such as plastic measuring cups and stainless steel bowls.

For young children, use plastic knives or butter knives for spreading or cutting soft foods. But remember, the cutting instruments need to be able to accomplish their task. As children gain in experience and maturity, they can be taught to handle kitchen tools safely.

Provide constant supervision.

• Always watch your children when they use knives, mixers, or other equipment.
• Closely supervise the use of ovens, stoves, and other kitchen appliances.
• Remind children that stoves, ovens, pans, and dishes can be very hot.

Simple Recipes for Helping Hands

So, what do you cook? The first cooking experience can be as simple as preparing a powdered drink mix or Jell-O, or a little more adventurous like making bread. Some common choices: cinnamon toast (butter and cinnamon mixed with sugar), pudding, cookies, brownies, fudge, muffins, pancakes, French toast, hard boiled eggs, milk shakes, or smoothies. Here are three child-tested ideas to try:

Making Bread in a Bag

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups of whole-wheat flour or white flour
• 1 tablespoon yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 clear bag

1. Place only 1 cup of the flour, yeast and salt into zip lock bag.
2. Seal and shake bag until well mixed.
3. Open bag and add vegetable oil, honey and warm water.
4. Squeeze out as much air as you can and reseal bag. Squeeze bag with your hand to mix the contents until smooth.
5. Open bag and add remaining flour.
6. Again, squeeze out as much air as you can. Seal bag. Knead contents for 10 to 15 minutes.
7. Place bag in a warm place. Cover with a clean towel. Let dough rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
8. Grease bread pan.
9. When bread is ready, punch down and remove from bag.
10. Put dough into the greased bread pan.
11. Cover with a clean towel. Let rise until it's just above the rim of the pan.
12. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
13. Let cool and enjoy!

Waldorf Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 stalk celery
• 1 apple
• 1 cup seedless grapes, cut in half
• 1 banana
• 1 orange
• 1 cup low-fat lemon yogurt

Have children wash the celery, apple, and grapes. Children can peel the banana and orange. An adult should cut the fruit and celery into bite-size pieces. Have children place fruit and celery in a large bowl. Add yogurt and mix well.

Funny, Fruity Pizzas

Ingredients

• Low-fat mozzarella cheese slices (1 slice per child)
• English muffins, sliced in half (1 half per child)
• Fruit (an apple, banana, orange, or seedless grapes)

Have the children wash the fruit. Children can peel bananas and oranges or pluck grapes from their stems. An adult should cut the fruit into small pieces.

Split the English muffins. Give each child one half. Have the children place a slice of cheese on each muffin. Toast the English muffins until the cheese melts. Have each child top his or her muffin with fruit.

More on Kid-Friendly Nutrition

• Find kid-friendly recipes from our Family Room blog team.
• Check out these healthy lifestyle changes for busy working families.
• How do you help kids make healthy lunch choices? Share and get advice on our blog.
• Read why this mom is fed up with all the snacks at kids sports & activities events.