Who doesn’t need some help in the kitchen when it comes time to prepare dinner for the entire family? Sandra K. Nissenberg of “The Everything Kids Cookbook” says, “helping out at an early age, means helping out at a later age.” Encouraging kids to get in the kitchen at a young age means they will also enjoy the process at a later age. Let’s take a look at 5 kid-friendly gadgets that will lure your kids in to the kitchen, giving you your own culinary crew.

1. A Knife

You heard right. Why not present your little chef with their very own knife, or set of knives, for that matter. Curious Chef makes a set of blunt, serrated, nylon knives, perfect for the little hands of children. These knives are ergonomically designed to fit their hands and are rounded on the ends so skin is protected. The kids will learn how to wield these tools while helping you with the prep work. Let them have a go at soft foods, like boiled potatoes, tomatoes, avocados and even cooked chicken breasts.

2. Vegetable Choppers

Plastic, enclosed multi choppers are tons of fun for kids. Because the vegetables are safely enclosed in the bucket, kids can chop away without worrying about their hands. Kim Rushing of the Kids Cooking Company refers to the dicers as ‘alligator choppers,’ because who doesn’t love to feed hungry alligators?

3. Vegetable Peelers

Remember making carrot and cucumber ribbons as a child? By age 4, kids should be able to properly use a vegetable peeler to clean up those pesky veggies. If you need to make a decision, the traditional straight peelers are easier for kids to hold and use rather than the Y-shaped ones. Also, check out Chef’n; they make a tunnel peeler, which lets kids roll the vegetables in the palm of their hands and peels them using a covered blade.

Try new things

Here is a wild idea; let your kids plan dinner. If they want to have hotdogs and yogurt, what kind of recipes can you come up with to accommodate both ingredients? At the grocery store, pick out a new ingredient and make a mock game of Iron Chef of the House. Who can come up with the most creative ideas for how to use the secret ingredient in a dish?

Let your kids put broccoli in the mac and cheese. Who knows; maybe they will begin to enjoy their greens. Giving children the ability to experiment and try new things will broaden their horizons and teach them about how to pair foods. Don’t just stop at the foods though; think about different ways to prepare those foods. For instance, instead of just rolling up a burrito, how about frying it or baking it with cheese on top?

Keep it safe

Anytime a kitchen is involved, safety is always number one. Explain this to your children before beginning and make a game out of this too. See who can safely carry the eggs from the fridge to the kitchen counter. Also, try making a safety patrol, where kids get to point out potential safety places and suggest ways to improve and prevent.

Yes, it may take a little extra planning, but teaching kids to cook is probably one of the most rewarding things a parent can do. Keeping it fun, inspiring creativity and ensuring safety are easy steps for getting kids geared up for the kitchen. So what are you waiting for? Go find the lost treasure buried somewhere in that pile of mashed potatoes.

Despite the stigma behind kids in the kitchen, teaching kids to cook is a great way to build confidence and strengthen your family bonds. Just look at the Italians and the French. They spend all day in the kitchen with their family and they are probably about as tight as any culture can be. There are some things to consider when introducing kids to the kitchen routines, but doing so can make all of the difference in the world.

Make it fun

Kids are all about fun. Just watch one of them playing outside and you will quickly see that anything can be fun if you just put a little imagination behind it. Today, companies are making it easier than ever to get kids to enjoy kitchen time. With bright colors and tools that are easy to use, kids are starting to take an interest in what they eat every day.

Before you even begin the prep work, sit down with your child and make up a game. Assign different tasks, develop different strategies and get ready to step foot into the biggest play area ever.

Ask kids to use their imagination. For instance, while wading through the jungle of broccoli trees, what kind of exotic species are they looking for? Maybe they are trying to paddle their way out of the Royal Gorge while whipping some eggs or even in a race against time crossing the tight rope of spaghetti while expecting the kitchen timer to ding at any second.

Science

Why exactly can toast never return to its former state? Inquiring minds want to know and the kitchen offers a great field for learning science. Learning how things work and react is great for building brain strength. The more you can understand how things work together and how different things can react with each other, the more you will be able to apply it to certain scenarios.

Reasoning

Problem solving is an important skill for anyone. Being able to think through a situation and come up with a solid plan on the fly is a skill that many people desire, but do not have. Being in the kitchen can help teach us to deal with many different problems at once. For instance, the gumbo is about to start burning, the stand mixer is about to be finished with the dough and the whip cream still needs to be made.

This type of reasoning will serve a child well later in life, trying to juggle tasks and people. Critical thinking is a skill that many people struggle to develop late in life, but instilling it early will have a significant outcome on how kids think about the world in which they live.

Cooking is more than just a fun activity. While it provides fun, it also builds necessary skills to help a child think and grow. These skills are not only limited to children, adults can begin to grow them as well, but getting them into children at an early age will help shape their world. So get cooking and build some of those necessary skills in yourself and your children.

There is a great deal of important lessons kids can learn in the kitchen. Of course, there should be an adult present to help out and accomplish any tasks that the children are unable to, but more of the reason is to begin to shape and mold the thought process and inner qualities of the children. These qualities must be placed inside the children as soon as possible so they take root and begin to develop during an early part of life.

Creativity

Creativity is one of the biggest qualities that most successful entrepreneurs encompass, so why not instill that as soon as possible? Creativity is what creates the best inventors, astronauts and world leaders. How can you get creativity from the kitchen? Simple, let your kids try new things.

Safety

Safety cannot be stressed enough in the kitchen. In order to keep safety on the forefront of your mind, you have to be continuously thinking ahead. This offers the ability to teach great foresight, which is in high demand in the world today. Being safe does mean being aware of the surroundings. How you can continuously improve them to protect those around you. This also provides a base for teamwork.

Self Confidence

Anytime a kid can do something for themselves, their self-confidence gets a boost. Building self-confidence is second to none. Making sure kids are confident in their decisions and in who they are is great internal real estate. Kids gain confidence when they get through certain tasks and in the kitchen, there are plenty of different tasks to slice through.