At what age ... ?

[Rubymusic1]

Congratulations! I think you can start them at any age if they're curious, or to help with the child friendly aspects of cooking!

 

[Shellyann36]

Congrats! My kids like to be in the kitchen with me often. I normally line them up three chairs and let them sit and watch me. They are 3 and twins that are 22 months old. I do let the 3 year old help me stir or pour in ingredients into things such as cookies and cakes. He really likes pouring the chocolate chips into the cookie batter. If I am going to decorate cookies I give him his own little shaker with just a few sprinkles in it. Not so much that I will have a huge mess to clean up. It is all really up to you and how comfortable you are.

 

[zlemune]

I think any time when the child doesn't put things in his/her mouth is the right time. I let my two year old nephew help me knead the dough when I make my pies, and he helps stir the eggs. Always keep an eye on them though, for they could get curious at any age.

Yeah, that's a good point. You can start them off on some tasks but not others and work your way up as they get older and more responsible

 

[btatro]

My kids starting 'helping' around 2 or 3 years old, and continue to love it at 6 and 4! My daughter especially (the oldest) is a pro bread maker. Her favorite is banana and chocolate zucchini bread!

 

[RuthHur]

We started as soon as they could grasp things. We began by letting them add the pinches of salt or spices, then stirring/ pouring/sifting/ tasting

Right now ours are 2 and 3. They help me throughout the day (scooping the coffee, stirring their tea, slicing butter and fruit, spreading jam, dropping fruits in the blender or mixing bowl, spooning the batter into muffin tins, molding their own little loaves of bread/ biscuits...)

They love it. It's a slow, messy process. But also fun!

 

[dreamseer]

I have a 30 month old son, and everytime I am cooking something, he wants to "see it". I have had him in the kitchen, under my feet ever since he was old enough to crawl. I would give him bowls and wooden spoons and he would pretend that he was stirring stuff! I have had to clean up my share of messes, because he would take his food (cereal, macaroni etc.) and try to pour his drink into it to "mix it up". I have just recently started letting him really help me in the kitchen. When he goes through a stage of not wanting to eat anything (typical 2 year old) I will let him help me make something, and he tends to eat it better if he's "done it himself".

 

[sembaa9]

I am going to be a parent for the first time in August. Its a very exciting time, as you can imagine. I am curious at what age other parents introduced their children to baking. I have fond memories of my father baking bread and my mother, well, pretty much everything else. So, I think this might be fun for our little girl when she is old enough.

Anywho, just curious. Thank you.

Well I don’t really think you have to introduce your child to baking. Children are so curious and most of them will gravitate towards cooking pretty early. My three year old just loves being in the kitchen. He tries to help me roll out flatbread. I didn’t introduce him to baking he just learned from watching me.

 

[JessiFox]

If you're okay with making great memories despite the mess, than 2 to 3 is a great age to start for most children. They can 'focus' and interact enough to help decorate, muck things up a little and of course taste the progress . It's great to get them involved and interested from an early age, as it helps them grow up comfortable in the kitchen and working with food.

 

[themusicaldemocrat]

I think it's really all about how you introduce them to it. Starting early is perfectly fine, but making it a fun and enjoyable experience. If it seems stressful then they're not going to want to keep doing it. Not everyone is comfortable cooking with little ones. It all depends upon your personal feeling and how you decide to introduce it. Good luck!

 

[Kitty Reeves]

My mother started teaching me how to bake when I was about 4. The baking lessons also doubled as math lessons, because baking is all about fractions! I try to teach them around 3 or 4. It really depends on the child. My friend didn't get taught how to bake until she was 11 or so. My cousin still can't bake and she's 28!

 

[NThomas]

I have baked with children as young as three years old. You would be surpised at how well they are able to assist you with basic task. At this age they can help measure , pour with your help and stir. Children in this age group are also great at rolling out dough and using cookie cutters. There is alot to be learned though baking and they can take in so much knowlege durring these early years.

 

[forextraspecialstuff]

If I remember correctly I think I started helping my Mom around 3 or 4. I had my own apron and I would be in charge of light mixing and was usually allowed to help decorating. I started to bake on my own, with the exception of using the oven without help, when I was 8 or so. I had a lot of cookbooks and would plan tea parties and the sort from the recipes in them.

 

[H.C. Heartland]

Congratulations! In Madagascar, they begin teaching the children at an early age I would say 5 or so. There are these tiny little 'feteperas' which are like a charcoal cooking unit and the pot is tiny. Everything is little making it obvious that it is for children, yet they actually make the fire so they learn how to cook the food on top of it. Its interesting to me. Instead of 'play cooking' they really cook but with smaller units so maybe it isn't as dangerous? I'm not sure on that part, but mots of the cooking is done out of doors. There are children here that have burns though from boiling water that fell over, oil that spilled etc. So, I think I like the concept of beginning to teach at a young age but I think it should be very supervised. Part of the fun of the learning experience is to be with ones parent anyways. My mom used to let me have the left over scraps of pie crust to make a 'cheese pie' when we were little (I would say 8 or so). Her pies looked perfect, but she allowed us to make the pies in any shape we wanted so they were usually a mess, but as I think of it I can still remember how good it tasted. I think the fact that she let me make it without over correcting it added to the taste.

 

[dorannmwin]

With both of my kids, I started letting them help in the kitchen from the time that they were big enough to pour ingredients into a bowl and such. I think they were about a year and a half old when I started letting them help. However, I also made sure that they knew that when something was hot that they needed to stay away.

My kids are 11 and 7 now and they both absolutely love being in the kitchen and creating their own recipes.

 

[Azurix]

I agree with Katie! You don't want your child to be putting kitchen equipment or uncooked goods into their mouths! Not only is it unsanitary, but very dangerous for the child! Keeping in eye on them is very important. Beware, because turning your back for one second may be plenty of time for sneaky children to explore their curiosity! I would say that maybe around age 5, in my opinion, I would let children begin to help in the kitchen to give them a sense of responsibility.

 

[kammy]

I had my daughter in the kitchen with from she's 3 yrs; I started teaching her to prepare simply stuff such as mac n cheese an fruit salads; she is now 12 years old and is a very good cook and is confident around the kitchen.

 

[Trellum]

I let my nieces help me very young, the oldest one was 3. She helped me with the easiest tasks, like for example sprinkling and helping me with the icing. Small tasks, you know? Just to make her feel part of the process, who h she was. It made her so happy

 

[ReadmeByAmy]

Nowadays the children are very curious to many things and they want to experiment things even at a young age. I remembered I had a nephew who at the age of 4 years old likes to learn how to cook and bake already. I was still single at that time and instead of playing he was always at the kitchen watching us cooking. Now he was 11 years old and he knows how to cook and bake already. So far it taste good. He want to be a chef someday and he really had this passion for cooking.

 

[RoseannaCreates]

Even when children are as young as 1 year old you can include them. They can be sat in a highchair watching as you bake, or you could give them a wooden spoon and plastic bowl and they may mimic what they see you do. Age permitting they an help mix the ingredients themselves

A recipe which is brilliant for children to help out with is this banana and Nutella oat bites. These are perfect for breakfast, or to take out with you as a snack. http://roseannacreates.blogspot.com/2015/08/banana-and-nutella-oaty-breakfast-bites.html

This recipe is healthy, only takes a few ingredients, and has quick results... only bakes for 10 minutes! It is also super easy to change the ingredients, for example you may want to use peanut butter instead of Nutella, or add some fruit!

Let me know what you think

xx