Teaching your child to cook: start with the microwave

My niece started going to a weekly program at the local children's museum last Christmas, when she was two and a half. Every kid gets to do a little stirring, a little scooping, a little pouring stuff in - even some assisted chopping, with an adult holding the knife the kid's hand is on (or using one of those choppers where the blade is safely hidden inside the bowl the whole time)! They smell the ingredients and all, talk about what they're making, and taste a snack of what they've made when they're done.

So far, she's made things as diverse as mushroom barley soup, stir-fry with tofu, gingerbread, fried zucchini, and soft pretzels.

My sister was allowed to do all the prep-work for cookies when she was five or six, including reading the recipe herself - she just needed an adult to help her put the dough in the oven. I remember cooking ramen noodle soup on the stove when I was eight, and chopping veggies at the relatively late age of ten (I have motor control issues, though - it was prudent of me to wait that long, and wise of my family not to insist I help out before then).

And this was the norm for the people my family hung out with, too. So, honestly, I'd have to say you're starting a little late. But, to each their own - it's doubtful your kid will do what my sister did when she was... um... I think 12 - she spilled some extract on her arm while she was making cocoa, and somehow it caught fire. As it happens, alcohol doesn't burn very well, and she remembers that as it was burning (and fast), it didn't hurt at all, and was easily put out by my dad (who was in the room the whole time) by wrapping a towel around it.

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The girls have been using the microwave for ages now. They started with popcorn and moved on from there. Each one has dropped a hot popcorn bag quickly and never made the same mistake.

My younger son, now 33, couldn't believe that the microwave heated things. He melted a caramel and then stuck his finger in it. He was probaly nine then. He hasn't made the same mistake twice either.

Rebecca, almost 11, is the most interested in "real" cooking and is in the kitchen with me whenever possible. She can do almost everything now and is much more precise than I. I'm a little on the slapdash side so I have to remember patience when she holds a measuring cup up 3 times to make sure the liquid is exactly at the 2 cup line.

She knows the difference between stir and fold and usually when one or the other is needed.

Rochelle is allowed to use the stove for some things but never without permission. She's taller than I and she's quite careful. She prepares simple snacks - usually noodles.

In my opinion, it's never too soon to start them (boys or girls) in the kitchen or with most other household chores. When they're little, they enjoy it. If we wait too long they may not be as interested.

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The microwave is the last appliance my kids will learn to use. To me, it's too unpredictable and too easy for burns...steam or sloshing type.

I prefer the stovetop...everything is pretty much what it looks like (except after the red goes down from the burner).

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I started with the microwave when I was 3 or 4.. popping popcorn.. as far as cooking goes, I was making cookies and the like when I was 5, when I was able to read the ingrediance.. I just wasn't allowed to put it in the oven, or take it out until I was 7.. I burned myself a few times from my brothers bumping into me when I was pulling something out of the oven while they were helping out in the kitchen, but once we got syncronized, it worked wonders. Mom wasn't home usually until close to bedtime, so it was the babysitter that taught us how to cook mostly.. from making noodles and spegghetti (which I learned when I was 7), to pot roast and other full course meals as we grew older. By the time that Mom was coming home around suppertime, we had the meal fixed and ready, not to mention the house clean (Except for our bedrooms... Dawn, our babysitter, had trouble with getting us to clean up our personal space.. too much stuff, not enough storage.) With my youngest, who is at 24 mos, Jaime "helps" make cookies with the older children, 5 yr old twins Chelsea and Ronnie, and 7 yr old Boyd. The twins make mac and cheese, as well as Ramon Noodles, help with dinner side-dishes like corn, spinache, etc., items that can be microwaved, while Boyd helps with the mashed potatoes and other items that require a finer motor skills.. such as peeling or cutting items, which he recently just got upgraded from a potato peeler to a paring knife.

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My oldest started cooking w/me when he was 3 or 4 - stirring brownie mixes and the like (he's almost 7). When his brother wasn't mobile it was sort of easy to do the measuring and mixing. At some point we started making scrambled eggs and pancakes and now almost any Saturday we don't have a soccer game or something he and I make the family breakfast. Then later in the day I have to have a cooking project with his brother (the boys are now almost 5 and 7). A lot of evenings he wants to help me make supper and it's a real challenge to come up with something that he can do that's relatively safe - but he can grate cheese, stir the mac and cheese on the stove, poor things into the bowls. It can get messy and I'm not always as patient as I'd like to be - but since their Dad really doesn't cook I feel as the mother of boys (and my girl!) I owe it to their wives to get them comfy in the kitchen. Besides - it's something I like to do - beats the heck out of chutes and ladders. But the real challenge is including all 3 kids. I've learned that I can only handle one helper at a time - so the others know they have to stay behind the line.

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