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For many people some of their fondest memories are in the kitchen. For some it is helping Mom or Grandma make cookies, others it is huge family meals prepared by various family members bustling around kitchens all over the world. Teaching your kids to cook helps to create these memories not just for you but for them. One day in the future a whiff of spice will catch a memory bringing it back full force to it's owner, smile accompanying it.

It may seem like a daunting task to teach kids how to cook but really it doesn't have to be. Starting at even toddler age giving little tasks to "help" , slowly but surely teaches your kids to cook. Much of the learning will happen through watching it's self. Small tasks for toddlers need of coarse to be both simple and safe. Yes they are little and yes there will be a bigger mess the if you had done it yourself. Keep an extra vinyl table cloth around to place on floor under child to catch most of the mess. These can be shaken out outdoors and then thrown right into the wash. Examples of small tasks are: mixing batters, cutting olives, mushrooms,strawberries and anything else that will fit and be soft enough to be cut in an egg slicer (a must have to cook with young kids), crushing of nuts or candy in a plastic bag, cookie cutting or rolling (rolling includes meat balls). Toddlers also love to grate things. A piece of parmesan and a grater can keep a kid going for an unbelievable amount of time. Having a set of small bake pans so that they can have their own pies, cookie sheets bread, is not only fun for them but leaves their food separate for those who may become squeamish by the snot wiping on sleeves while cooking, gross but bound to happen. Toddler friendly recipes such as meatballs are perfect starter projects. Kids love to get their hands messy and meatballs cannot be hurt by over zealous squeezing or by being made egg shaped.

As children get older they can take on bigger tasks in the kitchen. All of the above can still be done as well as learning to cut with a knife, filling and folding (baklava or raviolis), rolling out dough and most importantly measuring. Why is measuring so important, well other then the basic you need to follow the recipe, a big reason is that kids in elementary school are learning math skills such as weight, fractions, ratios, and how to convert from one system to another none to mention the systems themselves. Practical uses of how many cups of milk are in that quart or how many ounces of flour

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