by Sapphire Magpie Ravenclaw

Created on: September 18, 2011

For some people, cooking is simply a necessary chore. Along with the chore itself, it may also be a frustrating task to involve children or other family members who may be reluctant to take an interest.

Even for those who enjoy cooking, getting the whole family involved may seem difficult particularly if previous attempts have been unsuccessful.

To encourage the family to take part in cooking, it is important to make it an enjoyable event rather than a boring necessity. One very simple idea to get children interested is to begin with asking them to help create their favourite dishes. Anything for a child is usually more exciting if they know they will enjoy the end result. Whichever dish is being made, there will be some way in which the whole family can help from asking younger children to choose the correct utensil to getting older kids to chop vegetables.

An important thing to remember is not to get carried away. If a child enjoys helping, they may become reluctant if they are overloaded with tasks. Keeping it simple and adding more complicated tasks gradually will usually be the best way to keep a the interest of the family. Also make sure that, if there is more than one person helping, each person has separate tasks so that there are no arguments about who is doing which job.

Making the food itself look interesting is helpful. For younger children in particular, there is the simple idea of making a pizza face. They can add whichever vegetables and other toppings they like and this is also a good way of getting kids to eat healthy food. It doesn't have to be pizza either, it is simple to make a face on a plate with almost any food.

As well as the simple these simple ideas, cooking can be made more fun by making it into games. A good game could be to ask a younger child which utensil they will need to do a particular task, perhaps getting an older child to demonstrate what the utensil does while the younger child says whether the tool has worked to do what was required.

Children may also enjoy tasks such as adding ingredients, they can suggest whether more is needed of a particular ingredient. It could be that an extra ingredient is shown and the child has to say which ingredient should not be there (or ask if they want to try it anyway). It won't hurt for a child to try unusual combinations within reason. Experimenting with flavours is very satisfying and is particularly useful for fussy kids. If they put the foods together, whether it is because they like those foods the best or because they happen to be their favourite colours, they will enjoy the task more and may even be more likely to consume their own finished efforts.

While there are lots of ways to make cooking more fun for the family, one of the best ways to get them involved is to give them a choice of helping with cooking or washing the dishes afterwards! Most kids will help with the cooking!

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