This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Horizon Organic. The opinions and text are all mine.
With school starting next week, I’m busy in the kitchen pre-making as many snacks and dinners that I can, to help when the schedule explodes. While it’s easy for me to think about freezer cooking meals, I wanted to have some hearty snacks ready for the big pre-schooler when he gets home. He’ll be in afternoon pre-school this year, and I know he’ll be ravenous when I pick him up each afternoon.
That all being said, I’m sad that summer is coming to an end. The no-schedule kind of days are really nice, and so I want to make sure I maximize every minute with my two boys. And so in preparing for the craziness of school, I decided to enlist their help in the kitchen! Am I brave or what? Two crazy and fun boys in the kitchen and I’m trying to bake?!
Actually, we had a great time together and I do like to enlist their “help” when I can. Baking is perfect in my mind because mixing the ingredients does not include a hot stove for most recipes. And if we want to get all educational, the measuring is great for math skills.
Here’s my five tips for enjoying the kitchen with your kids.
(By the way, here’s the healthy blueberry muffin recipe we made together.)
1. Choose easy ingredients that your kids like. Baking is so much more fun when your kids are into it. I chose to make blueberry muffins because to say my kids LOVE blueberries, is an understatement. They were super excited to help because we were going to be incorporating one of their favorite things.
2. Be patient and take turns. Having two boys in the kitchen is like having two chiefs. Each one wants to take over the entire process. I tend to set the rule that mom measures and then the boys take turns putting the ingredients into the bowl. They learn to be patient with each other.
But really, I need to remind myself to be patient with the process as well. There will be flour all over the countertop. The recipe will not be perfect.
That’s okay.
3. Let them experiment. While I don’t intend to let them see what would happen if we added two extra cups of flour, I do let them experiment in terms of taste and touch. Here they are tasting the flour. I will draw the line at tasting raw eggs (obviously), but it’s fun to watch them want to feel everything they put into the batter.
Maybe 3.5 should be – don’t forget to wash your hands! 🙂
4. Let them measure as you watch. This one makes me nervous every single time. Hello, half gallon of Horizon organic milk all over the floor? While that was flashing through my head, I do know that “let me do it, mom!” means something to them. I’m building their confidence when I allow them to measure ingredients, even the scary ones. “I did it!” was their reaction with this one. I just love that my five year old is concentrating so much he’s sticking his tongue out. Letting them pour their own milk is a big deal, folks!
5. It’s okay if it’s not perfect. And that brings me to my final point. When you’re baking with kids, it’s okay if it doesn’t turn out like you wanted it to. Making creme brulee is probably not the right recipe for kids. Making muffins, cookies, granola bars and other fun recipes, are perfect for young kids. Setting them up for success is one way to make sure baking with your kids is fun. But if it doesn’t turn out exactly how the recipe states, that’s okay too.
I want my kids to love being in the kitchen but I also want them to love making great choices in their recipe creation. It’s so fun to watch kids work hard on a recipe and be so excited to finally eat it!
Who am I kidding? That’s my favorite part too!
How do you help your kids learn to make healthy choices?
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Horizon Organic. The opinions and text are all mine.