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From your youngest (1-2 yrs old) to your oldest child, each can help in the kitchen. While you, as the single mom or dad, may do most of the cooking in the household on any given night, you might consider having a special night just for your kids to get involved in the cooking. Friday nights or Saturday nights are good because your kids don't have school the next day. These are also the nights when your kids most likely won't have any homework. If they happen to have homework, encourage to complete most of it in time to help with dinner preparations.

The best way to convey suggestions for letting your kids help in the kitchen is by listing a few. So, here goes.

~1 to 3-year-olds~
* Stir with a spoon (you'll probably have to help them hold it), preferrably one that's small
enough for them to work with; you can stir more thoroughly when they're finished
* Put bread in the toaster, cheese on bread for toast or grilled cheese sandwiches, chips on a
plate, pretty much anything that requires only one step and not a lot of fine motor skill

~3 to 4-year-olds~
* Stir with a spoon (at this age, you might only have to supervise)
* Pour in ingredients that have already been measured, like flour, milk, eggs, etc; they can
help pour cake batter into a pan and even lick the spoon/spatula when they're done (you
might have to help them hold the bowl or put some batter in a smaller bowl for them to pour)
* Help put a frozen pizza onto a cookie sheet and into the oven (of course, you'll supervise
to make sure they don't burn themselves)

~5-year-olds and up~
* The general rule is that if you're supervising and giving directions, they can pretty much
be involved in every part of the cooking process.

As with all age groups, it's vitally important to remember to wash hands before and after handling any food and to adhere to all safety rules.

Whether you have one child or 5 children , the next list of ideas are good to do for fun:

* Have a pizza night, where they put their own toppings on, like pepperoni and cheese; you
might have to help them decide what to put on their pizza if there are a lot of toppings,
but pepperoni and cheese will generally be what's picked

* On the special night that you designate as the family cooking night, make an assembly line.
If it's just you and one child, let your child do the easier things and you finish up. You
can both do the taste testing and waiting for your meal to get done. If it's you and a
group, divvy up the cooking tasks according to age, so that everyone has something to do.

* If you want time with just one child at a time, try having Tommy cook on Mondays, Sara on
Tuesdays, and so on. This gives your child a chance to help you cook and you get to spend
time together. This is also a good time for your other children to know that even though
it's Tommy's time tonight, it will soon be their turn. They all get to cook (without the
chaos) and they all get a chance during the week to spend time with mommy or daddy
(whichever the case may be).

All in all, cooking can very fun for all involved. So, whether they're 2 years old or twenty years old, cooking gets the children involved and takes some of the pressure off of you. Why wouldn't you take advantage of that? Single parents need all the breaks we can get. Why not let cooking with your children be one of them?

Learn more about this author, Kimberly Chitwood.
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