HOW TO GET YOUNG CHILDREN INVOLVED IN THE KITCHEN
Growing up, the kitchen was the centre of our household. Some of my fondest childhood memories were spent in the kitchen, running around with my sisters, eating snacks and watching our mom whip up the most delicious gourmet meals. We always used to ask how we can help, but being four rambunctious girls, I’m sure we made much more of a mess than anything else. Yet despite giving her more to clean up, my mom always involved us in the meal prep and cooking.
Now that Lily has turned into an active and curious toddler, I have started to get her involved in the kitchen too. It’s a fun and easy way for us to hang out and for her to explore and learn new things. I’m not going to lie though, just like my mom used to say, adding a child, especially a toddler, into the kitchen definitely makes more of a mess!
As parents, we can come up with the most elaborate plans of activities to do with our kids. Whether it’s baking muffins or melting crayons in the oven, sometimes the idea sounds better than the actual plan and that’s because we constantly think of the mess at the end!
So today I am partnering with Cascade to share five fun ways to get your child involved in the kitchen and how the post-play mess can be a little easier to clean!
1. Prep and cook meals they enjoy
Instead of making kitchen time all about treats and baking, try having them join in on the actual meal prep. Every week, I choose a few big batch recipes that we all enjoy. From meat balls, to salmon, to broccoli and corn. Even the simplest recipes (I’m talking real simple…like just steaming!) will make life so much easier when you don’t know what to serve.
I also find that Lily’s dinner time creeps up on me every day and before I know it – I’ve only just finished working and it’s time to serve her dinner. Having those meal prepped ingredients makes life so much easier and I can serve her dinner in no time.
Plus, if she was involved in “making the broccoli,” she is far more likely to be excited about it and eat it.
2. Let them help
When it comes to meal prep, there is a lot that your child can’t help with. I mean, depending on their age, we have to keep it safe! So what I like to do is give her something completely safe to do, such as ripping the lettuce and putting it into the bowl. Sometimes, I’ll even make up something that has nothing with what we’re cooking for her to do, just so she feels involved.
The other day for example, I gave Lily a giant bowl, a wood spoon and put some already steamed broccoli inside. She had so much fun just mixing the broccoli in the bowl, and since it was cooked, I knew it would be safe if she snuck a piece in. I kept encouraging her saying, “great job cooking” so she felt like a big help.
3. Use a safe stool or toddler tower
The addition of the “toddler tower” to our kitchen has been game-changing! The tower is basically a stool with a 360 degree bar around the back that prevents the child from falling off. It also allows her to lean over and reach for things while keeping her balance.
Similar to a stool, it keeps her at a safe counter height and literally gets her on my level, so it feels like we can cook together.
4. Run that dishwasher!
As I mentioned, cooking with a child in the kitchen is all fun and games until you need to clean up. I’m usually left with a pile full of dishes waiting to be cleaned when my baby is already on to the next activity!
Since learning more about the water, time and energy-savings when running a dishwasher, however, I’ve been running a load or even a half-load with Cascade Platinum dishwasher detergent after a meal prep!
Did you know that running a half-loaded dishwasher uses the same amount of water as just hand- washing dishes for two minutes?! I was shocked when I heard that. Think about how long it takes just to wash a pot!! We have a new Energy Star dishwasher and running it instead of hand washing actually saves nearly 26,400 litres of water a year – that’s equivalent to 87 standard bathtubs full of water! Insane, right?!
Now that I have a better understanding of how running a half-load in the dishwasher saves water and energy, I also use it to save me time! It saves me about 30 minutes a day to just quickly load the dishwasher instead of hand wash. I also don’t need to rinse the dishes first when using Cascade detergent, which leads to more water, time and energy saving all around.
Using the dishwasher during the day and running a half load definitely took some getting used to but I’m trying to make it a habit and think about the amount of water, energy and time it actually saves – win-win!! Visit https://cascade.takeahalfloadoff.ca/en/ to learn more.
5. Don’t sweat the mess
As I just said, the thought of the mess can be so daunting it makes you not even want to try and get your child involved in the kitchen. So I’m here to remind you – don’t sweat it!
Not to sound that cheesy or anything…but the memories you make in the kitchen will last…that mess won’t! Especially now that you know about my secret time-saving hack of running the dish washer! So grab your child and your stool and remember that cleanup will be a breeze with Cascade dishwasher detergent. Get your kids in the kitchen and get messy!
