Small hands, lots of fun!

Small hands, lots of fun!

Cooking puts you in a good mood. Especially when children with their nimble hands get involved with the pots, bowls and ingredients. The result: a delicious dish prepared together that tastes twice as good!

When adults buy groceries, cook, or set the table, children are curious and want to help. The kitchen is a realm full of unknown treasures for them. That's why you should never shut them out of the kitchen, but instead conjure up something delicious together with them.
In this way, youngsters can learn what it means to eat healthily in a very practical way. In other words, put on the aprons, roll up your sleeves and get to work!

Despite all the eagerness, safety is the number one priority. Consequently, you should always keep an eye on small kitchen helpers. Boiling water, hot stoves, sharp knives: dangers lurk in the kitchen, but children quickly learn to deal with them depending on their age.

There is certainly enough to do: put the shopping away, clean vegetables, cut up fruit, knead dough, grease pans, spread toppings on cakes, and stir food standing securely on a small footstool. The ingredients should certainly be tasted during preparation; this is after all, a good time to acquire a taste for new things. This helps young chefs get a feeling for food and they continually learn new things.

Cooking with children requires time – time that is worth every second. Weekends are best for spending a couple of hours together in the kitchen. The food served depends of course on the personal taste of the chef. It should be as healthy as possible using fresh, seasonal ingredients and not be too difficult to prepare. How about spaghetti, a delicious casserole, pizza or tasty muffins?

There are plenty of occasions on which you can satisfy the ravenous hunger of the little epicureans with your favourite dish. A birthday party is ideal, for example, for serving kids' favourite foods. A successful party includes not only games and presents, but also a birthday meal with the favourite foods of a hungry gang. Child's play, and fun too!

Delicious recipes from the recipe database are child's play to prepare and taste good for big and little folks – not only on birthdays.

Text: Kim Leclaire