If you love to cook and would love to share this interest and passion with your kids, there are so many ways that you can do this. But depending on the ages of your kids and their abilities, there are also safety issues that you should consider before you start bringing them into the kitchen with you and giving them cooking tasks.

To help you in figuring all of this out, here are three tips for working with your kids in the kitchen.

Make Sure Your Kitchen Is Safe For Them

Before you have your kids come into the kitchen and start cooking with you, you need to make sure that this space is going to be safe for them. The last thing you want to deal with while you’re cooking is your kid falling off the countertop and cracking their head on your new kitchen cabinets on their way down. So to reduce the chances of accidents like this happening while you’re cooking, you’ll want to make sure your kitchen is as safe as possible before you start working in the kitchen together.

To start with, you’ll want to keep all sharp and dangerous objects out of your child’s reach until they’re old enough to safely use these items. Additionally, if your child will need a stool to reach the counter, make sure that stool is safe for them and that the won’t easily fall off if they get wiggly and excited while cooking with you.

Embrace Creativity

Because you’re so well versed in cooking, it might be hard to take your mind back to what cooking is like for a child. But for kids just getting started with cooking, making food is really about being creative and trying new things.

Knowing this, you should try to let your kids be creative when trying to make foods for themselves or helping to cook for your family. If they want to try a new seasoning or combine two foods that you might not normally put together, allow them to see what happens so that their excitement about cooking can flourish.

Show Them Once And Then Let Them Try

When cooking with kids, it’s easy to try to take over because you know what you’re doing and can complete certain tasks more quickly and accurately. But if you want your kids to feel competent in the kitchen, you have to let them learn through action.

To help with this, try showing your child how to do something once and then allowing them to try it on their own. With you standing right next to them to help and guide, hopefully your child will be able to complete this task with more independence both now and in the future.

If you want to include your kids in the kitchen more, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you learn some ways that this can best be done.