Do you ever cook with your children?

You think it’s a good idea in theory but just the thought of it is stressful enough? Are you scared that your kitchen will turn into a battlefield?

Cooking with kids can be daunting, but with a little bit of preparation it’s great fun for everyone involved.

Here are a few tips that will help make the whole experience stress-free.

Take your time: set aside a whole afternoon for your kitchen experiment. It will allow you to got through your recipe with your kids and teach them what they have to do if its their first time. Leave the mid-week dinner scramble for a solo job!
Be prepared: make sure that you have all your ingredients at hand, so as to avoid a last-minute run to the shop for that extra egg. You can bring your kids to the grocery store and jump at the occasion to teach them about seasonality and fresh ingredients.
Embrace the mess: cooking is messy by definition. Dress up your little sous-chefs in aprons, or big old t-shirts and give them a nice big bowl to avoid disastrous spillages. Bonus tip: if you have them help you with the tidying up, it might teach them to be more cautious in the long run!
Share tasks: pick the recipe with your little helpers, talk them through the process and make sure they get to do a few activities throughout. This way they’ll feel involved and will know when to chip in.

Hopefully you feel reassured, so why not giving it a go with the Aubergine Sandwiches recipe by My Little Sous-Chef?

The innovative format breaks down the recipes into easy passages, with specific tasks assigned to the kids and beautiful illustrations throughout.

Download the free printable recipe of the Aubergine Sandwiches and give it a go!

About the Author

Caterina Falqui is the editor of the innovative cookery book My Little Sous-Chef, designed together with Ink Inch Design. My little Sous-Chef is a new concept of cookbook that comes in 2 volumes, one for parents and one specially designed for kids. The kids’ volume breaks down the adults’ book recipes in simple, illustrated passages, so that little ones have their own book and can get hands on with cooking themselves.

Original Photography: Magda Rezene

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