Some adults fondly remember their childhood kitchen as a place where they pulled up a chair and learned how to cook from their mom or grandmother. Others remember the kitchen as a place that was off limits to kids because they would get in the way.

I get just as frustrated as the next mother, but I also want to provide my daughter with skills in the kitchen and good memories, too. Children are notoriously picky eaters, but one way to make it more likely that your child will eat dinner is to get them involved in the meal planning, shopping, and cooking.

Meal Planning

Meal planning is a great way to have some quality time with your children and find out what they like eating and why.  In our family, we do our weekly meal planning on Sunday. I get our weekly calendar out, go through our activities for the week and plan what meals we are going to have and when. To get your children involved, you can:

• ask your child for meal suggestions;
• encourage them to go through a cookbook with you (a cookbook with pictures can work for your younger children);
• set aside one night a week for your child to pick the meal; and
• give your kids their own shopping list – even kids who cannot write, like my three-year-old, often love scribbling their own list.

Even if your child will only eat hot dogs or macaroni and cheese, you can plan that meal for one night a week. The purpose of involving your children in meal planning is to give them some control over their food choices and encourage them to become invested in family meals.

Shopping

Taking kids to the grocery store can be a nightmare. Here are some ways to keep your kids occupied and help you accomplish your shopping a little faster:

• Give your kids their own shopping list. Younger kids might enjoy having their own list to check and a pencil or crayon to cross items off the list.
• Older kids can have specific items they are responsible for obtaining.
• Ask your kids to help gather items at the grocery store. Having your kids help you put the right items into the cart rather than constantly telling them not to put things in the cart is a joy!
• Older kids can be responsible for the components of their favorite meal.
• Younger kids can be asked to choose specific items, such as apples, crackers, or cheese.
• If you go to the farmer’s market, encourage your children to ask the farmers questions. The more they know about their food, the more interested they are likely to be.

Cooking

Cooking with kids can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are some strategies to help make your time in the kitchen productive and memorable:

• Don’t forget to give yourself some extra time. Cooking with kids will almost always take longer than if you do it yourself. If you are rushed, tempers can flare, which can make the wrong kind of memories.
• Kitchen safety is important and your level of supervision will vary depending on the age of your children. Younger kids will need to be closely supervised, while older children can be given more freedom.
• Give kids their own space. Younger kids can have a stool and stand next to you at the counter.
• Figure out what your child enjoys doing and incorporate that. For example, my 3 year old loves to stir. I make sure to give her a bigger bowl than necessary to allow for a larger margin of error for her enthusiastic stirring!
• Older kids can be put in charge of an entire course. A great place to start cooking is with a salad that requires simple chopping and mixing.
• Ask your child to help gather ingredients. My daughter loves the time when she can get into the pantry or refrigerator and not get in trouble!
• Don’t forget to include kids in the cleanup. Their job can be something as simple as bringing their plate and cup to the kitchen or wiping the table, and older kids can be responsible for loading the dishwasher and wiping the table.