I’m honored to be a special guest over at Modern Alternative Kitchen today where I’m discussing a few of the many reasons “Why Kids Belong in the Kitchen” and I’m also sharing a FREE Cooking with Kids Printable. This helpful chart outlines age-appropriate cooking activities for kids of all ages, as well as provides a few creative ideas for making mealtimes FUN!

Spending time in the kitchen with your precious little ones is about so much more than just teaching them valuable cooking and healthy eating skills, it’s about sharing and enjoying time together – building strong bonds and happy memories! So I encourage you to pop over to Modern Alternative Kitchen to discover just a few of the many wonderful benefits of cooking with your kiddos … and be sure to download your FREE Cooking with Kids of All Ages Printable!

P.S. Your comments are welcomed and appreciated! If you have some Kids in the Kitchen tips, personal stories to share or questions about cooking with kiddos, please feel free to leave a comment at Modern Alternative Kitchen – I’ll be checking in on any comments over there throughout the weekend! It’s always such a joy to hear from you all!

Lots of blessings, Kelly

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Wardeh Harmon of GNOWFGLINS has a real passion for Kids in the Kitchen!

When my family started our real food journey many years ago, there were just a handful of helpful Christ-centered real food blogs out there. One of these pioneers was, and still is, Wardeh Harmon at GNOWFGLINS (which stands for: God’s Natural, Organic, Whole Foods, Grown Locally, In Season).

Wardeh’s passion for helping families to embrace a real food lifestyle while bringing glory to God is such a blessing! That’s why I’m thrilled to have her as a guest. One of her most recent accomplishments is co-authoring an incredibly helpful eBook for families called Real Food Kids in the Kitchen. This step-by-step resource helps parents to teach kids-of-all-ages basic cooking skills through a series of simple and fun lessons, while also inspiring the entire family to gain a deeper knowledge of and appreciation for Real Food.

So without further ado … I’ve got a whole slew of questions for Wardeh regarding how we can build fun memories together in the kitchen as we get our kiddos even more fired up about eating and preparing wholesome real food meals!

Q: Wardeh, you’ve put together an amazingly thorough resource for families – tell us why you and your co-authors decided to create this eBook?

Wardeh answers: This eBook was actually an idea from Jami Delgado, my co-teacher and founder of the free real food recipe sharing site Eat Nourishing. She came to me with the idea of creating an online class teaching kids to cook real food. I loved the idea so much that we did it! The class is called Real Food Kids and all the print materials for the class ended up coming together as a stand-alone eBook.

The core philosophy behind Real Food Kids is “everyone eats, everyone cooks!” — a phrase coined by Jami. Everyone needs to eat to sustain life, and we believe that everyone ought to be taught to cook with real foods for good health. The best time to instill careful habits around kitchen work and healthful eating is when our children are young.

Wardeh’s son making fresh homemade pasta. What an awesome real food kid!

Q: How can teaching kids to cook help them to eat a wider variety of healthy foods?

It’s no secret (for adults too) that if someone has a hand in creating something, they’re much more invested in it and more likely to enjoy it.

Of course, it isn’t a sure-fire thing, but it is more likely. So getting our children involved in the preparation of real foods seems like a no-brainer.

Q: How has putting together this extensive eBook, helped you personally when it comes to your time in the kitchen with your family?

I didn’t actually cook with real foods when my children were little, little. I loved working with Jami (whose children are under the age of 8) to see what she was doing. I kind of wish I could get a “do-over” and go back to when my kids were younger and do some things differently with my kids! In any case, I’ve found plenty of inspiration to work more with my children now. I hope that encourages others like me, who brought real foods into our families later in the game. Though it is ideal to start young, it is never too late!

Q: Share with us your thoughts on how cooking together can help to build healthy eating habits and healthy families.

Wardeh and her daughter enjoying some homemade chicken noodle soup using her son’s famous homemade pasta.

In our society, most people don’t know how to cook, because they don’t have to cook. Convenience foods are so prevalent, and people are often tired and unwell because of unhealthy living (a vicious cycle!), that going through the dive-thru or relying on processed foods becomes the norm.

Home Economics is often not taught anymore (which might not be a bad thing, given modern nutritional wisdom). Case in point: when I took Home Ec in junior high more than twenty years ago, one of the skills I learned was to microwave a potato and then melt some cheese on top. (However, to my teacher’s credit, I learned a ton about sewing!) 

So, the trade-off on all this “convenience” is that the health and well-being of the whole family suffers, often getting worse with each generation. We can break this cycle if we would all get in the kitchen and cook together with real foods. Not just Mom, but the children, too (and even Dad if he can). If kids cook alongside, not only is this quality time, but the children get so used to kitchen work that it just might not be laborious or tedious for them ever after — because they will continue doing what they grew up doing. It’s like tying your shoe or riding a bike; you never forget!

Beautiful Wardeh and her precious family! I highly encourage you to get to know her over at GNOWFGLINS. Her site is overflowing with ideas, resources and recipes for wholesome real food living.

My heartfelt thanks to Wardeh for being so generous in sharing her time and wisdom with us! And to you dear readers, I have another special treat in store for you … Wardeh has allowed the boys and I to share one of our favorite recipes from her new eBook. So … be sure to check out me and my boys making Wardeh’s Easy Nut Butter Cookies – YUM!

I also highly encourage you to pop over to check out Wardeh’s Real Food Kids in the Kitchen eBook. Personally, I consider this book to be a foundational resource for families who want to experience the joy and nourishment that comes from learning to work together as a team in the kitchen!

Joyfully Serving Him, Kelly

Disclosure: I make a small commission if you opt to purchase Wardeh’s eBook using the links above. All commissions help to support the many free resources available here at The Nourishing Home! 

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One of my favorite things to do is cook with my boys! I can’t tell you the number of times they’ve come up with some pretty brilliant ideas for new recipes, or ways to enhance an existing recipe. Cooking together gives us time to talk, laugh and accomplish something together as a team – it’s good quality bonding time and it’s educational too!

For busy moms, I know time is limited, but here’s why I think you should spend the extra time to get your kids in the kitchen with you:

1. Got a picky eater? Kids are more likely to eat what they make, so getting them involved in making a healthy meal, will give you a better shot at them actually eating it. You can also use this time together to lay a solid foundation by talking about healthy food basics – but don’t just lecture, seek their thoughts and opinions and help steer them toward understanding the “whys and hows” of making nutritious choices.
2. Kids are naturally creative and like to be helpful (especially when they’re little). Once they begin experiencing the accomplishment of making a meal that everyone enjoys, they will begin to take pride in their effort. And eventually, they may actually discover they have a passion for cooking.
3. Kids need to learn how to prepare healthy homecooked food. It’s important for both girls and boys to learn how a meal is created from start to finish, so they can do it themselves as they get older and eventually leave home. It will be an invaluable skill you are teaching them – one that they will use the rest of their lives.
4. The kitchen is a wonderful classroom! Kids learn so many important skills in the kitchen – including math skills, following directions, time-management and organization – the lessons are endless and are of great value!

How to get started …
If you want to get your kids in the kitchen with you, here are a few helpful tips and strategies to make it a smoother process for you both:

1. Be realistic! It’s important to be realistic in your expectations of this time together. Plan the cooking session with your child in mind – what his/her interests are, attention-span, skill level, etc. By taking time to think this through and plan an age-appropriate cooking session, you’ll have much more success at making it fun and interesting for your child. And the more fun it is, the more you both will enjoy this time to together! Curious about which kitchen activities are age-approriate? Be sure to download my FREE “Cooking with Kids of All Ages” printable. It not only contains lots of ideas for developmentally appropriate kitchen activities, but also contains some great ideas for making mealtimes fun!
2. Be sure to schedule it on your meal plan! Plan time for cooking with your kiddos on a day when you’ll have extra time to spare – being in a rush and cooking with kids is a recipe for disaster (pun intended).
3. Start off with an easy recipe – have them watch you do one of the tasks first, then help them do it once, then let them do it by themselves. When getting started, focus on age-appropriate fun tasks – anything that needs to be shaken, stirred, mashed – kids love that!
4. Keep the time short and sweet (especially for little ones). Be sensitive to your child’s age- and personality-related attention span. For little ones, it’s important to have all of the ingredients ready ahead of time, so they don’t have to sit and watch you get everything prepared, but can instead immediately jump in and participate. After they’ve accomplished the age-appropriate tasks you planned out (or if you notice boredom setting in) thank them for helping you, and let them run off to play while you finish the meal. You can slowly build from there – increasing the time spent and the skills they learn – to the point where they’re eventually helping you execute an entire meal from start to finish. And of course, my dream is when they can completely take on a meal without my help at all – definitely something to look forward to! Even the most passionate chef enjoys handing over the apron every now and then!

The Kids in my Kitchen
I started my boys in the kitchen as toddlers with very simple tasks that they loved to do, like stirring and mashing – especially the mashing part – they are boys after all!

From there, we slowly progressed based on their age and abilities to include more and bigger tasks – adding ingredients, measuring out ingredients, reading and following a recipe, and right now, they are learning how to properly use a knife and how to safely cook on the stovetop, always under very careful supervision, of course. As they get older, my goal is to have them begin cooking some of their own favorite lunches and then as noted above, taking on dinner for the entire family by themselves – that will be awesome!

One of our favorite resources for tips, recipes and overall step-by-step instructions for age-appropriate cooking, is a wonderful eBook by my friend Wardee called “Real Food Kids in the Kitchen.” I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a comprehensive and FUN guide to getting their kids into cooking and eating real food.

A little extra time and mess are worth it!
One more thing, if you decide to do this, be prepared for extra time and extra mess – but think big picture and don’t get discouraged! Remember, this is so much more than just teaching them valuable cooking and healthy eating skills, it’s about sharing and enjoying time together! Your patience and joy in having them in the kitchen will be blessed!

Joyfully Serving HIM, Kelly

Disclosure: I make a small commission if you opt to purchase the “Real Food Kids in the Kitchen” eBook using the links above. All commissions help to support the many free resources available here at The Nourishing Home! 

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