Teaching Kids to Cook at Any Age

What tasks can your kids do in the kitchen? Discover what skills are great for each age group to get kids cooking in the kitchen with ease with our simple list below

Toddlers – 6 yr old

– Peeling fruit (mandarins) and eggs with hands
– Juice citrus fruit
– Crack eggs
– Stir or whisk easy batters
– Scoop batters or dough
– Pour liquids
– Measure dry ingredients with cups
– Using cookie cutters

These tasks are designed to get your youngest cooks to develop their hand/eye coordination and complete tasks that are easy and straightforward. At this age kids just want to be involved and these simple jobs will give them a sense of achievement

6- 8 Year Old

– Rolling out dough
– Cutting soft vegetables
– Shaping biscuits
– Using grater for vegetables and cheese
– Crumbing meats
– Whisking easy batters
– Using simple icing on cupcakes and cakes
– Buttering bread or using spreads

At these ages kids are a little more dexterous and able to handle larger utensils. Keep it simple still to keep their attention whilst also encouraging them to develop their skills

8-12 Year Old

– Use chef knife to chop vegetables
– Slice and dice meats
– Use food processor and blender
– Measure using scales and jugs
– Putting food into oven and removing it
– Frying simple items
– Making basic pasta sauces

Pre-teens are starting to become more confident and are able to be given more complicated tasks to build their skills. Appliances and hot items can be handled with supervision and simple recipes are able to be followed

12-16 Year Old

– Use all kitchen appliances
– Develop confidence and ease with a knife to do more complex chopping and slicing
– Baking more complicated recipes
– Frying/Sauteing multi step recipes
– Deep frying under supervision

Teenagers are to follow complicated instructions and create multi step recipes. Time and patience may be key here but the foundations are set and teenagers are ready to try new tasks and complete harder recipes

Print out my easy go to guide for cooking with kids below