Kids in the Holiday Kitchen

November 19th, 2009 | Category: Green Home | 2 comments - (Comments are closed) |

Egad! It worked by qwrrty

Once outdoor kids have run off some steam it’s time to get them involved with food in the kitchen. Holiday cooking with kids takes some patience, but after all holidays are about family; Thanksgiving is a great time to be cooking with kids.

There are many things for kids to do in the holiday kitchen. Kids need to know where food comes from – not from packets. These ideas foster independence and learning about local resources for a greener community. Here are some ideas for getting kids involved in your Thanksgiving meal.

Picking, Choosing, Carrying

Kids have their own ideas about what makes for good food. My kids have always been involved in choosing something for the holiday menu.

At the farmer’s market or grocery store kids can help pick out the fruits and veggies and carry something for you. I think conformable net bags, such as these bags from Amazon.com work best for veggies. They’re easy for kids to grasp, and don’t require deliberate arrangement of the items inside. If you don’t have enough reusable bags, consider some like these (this link benefits Loving Nature’s Garden).

Fetching, Pouring, Measuring, Stacking, Grubbing

Kids are great at pouring, measuring and stacking. Have them fill the bowls of sunflower seeds. They can fetch veggies for salsa, transport things to the table and measure out ingredients for cornbread or stuffing. Preschoolers can manage all of these with a little help.

Even the youngest of kids can grub around inside a pumpkin and pull out seeds to roast. Of course they’ll get messy – messy is fun! Be sure to take a photo – they won’t be this young for long.

Slicing and Coring + safer alternatives

Kids with knife skills can slice bread or cornbread, help with sweet potatoes, chop tomatoes for salsa, prepare cheese, or core apples.

Elementary kids can learn to safely handle a knife. I recommend checking your own safe knife skills before trying to teach kids. There’s no specific age for using a knife safely; I’ve run cooking classes for homeschool kids – some were safe right away, some just didn’t get it and required ongoing and very close supervision.

A crinkle cutter is a great alternative for kids not ready for a knife and can be used for potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots or parsnips.

I also recommend an apple corer, peeler, slicer – when I taught apple cooking to kids every one of them went home wanting one of these. I’ve used mine for processing bushels of apples to freeze ready for apple pies – they save some time. They’re also a kind of history lesson in gadgets – we really did have gadgets before we had electricity! If you have a need to own one please consider purchasing through this link and supporting Loving Nature’s Garden.

How are your Thanksgiving plans going? Is your menu ready? Check out Local Thanksgiving, Kansas Style for some inspiration.

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