Classic kid-helping cooking

Is there anything more classic than having the kids help you bake cookies in the kitchen? Probably not. I still get a little nostalgic thinking of helping my mom stir in chocolate chips into the dough, fighting with my brother and sister over who got to lick one of the hand-held mixer attachments and who got the bowl (Mom always got the spoon) and I can even see the kitchen and taste the dough.

I hope that I am helping create some of those memories now. We recently went to a family picnic, and I decided to make cookies to bring with us to share as dessert. My 6-year old wanted to help, and I was more than happy to let him. Help him mix in the chocolate chips, help him spoon out cookie dough onto trays lined with parchment paper, and let him - even though it was well past his bedtime - try one of those warm gooey treats while they were still warm from the oven.

Was my kitchen a little messier than I expected it to be? Sure, but it cleans up nice.  Were the cookies a little uneven? Probably, but they were not so much that you could tell which ones he did with a normal spoon and which ones I did with my fancy-dancy scooper. Were the cookies tasty? You betcha, and most of the more than 3 dozen we made were consumed at the picnic showing that we were not the only ones who thought so. 

This reminds me that sometimes there are things more important than just cooking, and more important than having a super-clean kitchen, though I DO like to try to put the effort in to make my kitchen very neat and orderly. It is important to get kids in the kitchen, and get them helping with cooking - and this is something I need to remember more often. Experts say that having kids help with the cooking has multiple benefits, apart from just helping them build confidence and exposing them to new foods.

This is one of my new challenges. Having kids who are picky eaters I think this may be extra important for me. I need to incorporate my kids - especially my 6-year old - into the kitchen more and more. Hopefully this will help expand his confidence, his palate, and keep him healthier as he gets into his teenage years. Hopefully he will leave my house with more cooking knowledge than I had when I left to live on my own, and he will see how cooking well can help him healthy and happy through the rest of his life.