Do you have great memories of making cookies as a kid with your Mom or Grandmother? I grew up helping my Mom use the hand beater to make cakes and cookies. It was always the best reward to get to lick the beaters or help clean out the bowl! I want my kids to feel confident about making cakes, brownies, and cookies. When kids learn how to bake in the kitchen, they learn some valuable life lessons.

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Lessons Kids Learn in the Kitchen

Learn to Measure:

Cooking and Baking require you to actually use measuring cups and spoons. The kids have to learn the difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon. Cooking also gives them a chance to see what is bigger and how important it is to be precise.

Learn to Follow Directions:

I’ll never forget the time when the kids were making homemade chocolate chip cookies. They didn’t follow the directions exactly. When they got to the finished product, something didn’t look right – they had forgotten the eggs. Their next attempt turned out worse – they read the directions wrong. Instead of using 1 tsp of water, they used 1 cup. Definitely made a huge difference. Their 3rd attempt turned out perfect. They learned a great lesson about carefully reading the directions.

Another way to bring the fun of cooking for kids is to give them a cake bake game.

The new Cake-N-Bake Challenge is a totally different kind of action-packed family game with a delicious, rainbow-layer, foam cake being the center of attention! Object of the game is to, well, just be the fastest baker! 

Here’s how you play: Start with a game card that tells you the color order AND icing you need to stack the cake slice! Then ready, set, bake – the pressure is on!! Be the first to stack your cake slice correctly, ring the BELL and get a Candle Card. First to collect six candle cards is the Cake-N-Bake Challenge winner – time to proudly wear the included Chef’s Hat! 

Learn the Importance of Cleaning up their Mess:

I don’t mind when the kids get to try out new things in the kitchen. But they know that if they don’t make an attempt to clean up their mess, then I’ll be very hesitant to let them try the next time. My son loves to try out new smoothie concoctions. He discovered that a spoonful of peanut butter, a handful of ice, several cups of milk, and a few scoops of chocolate powder make a great smoothie. When my daughter recently made Asian noodles, she washed the dishes so I wouldn’t have to come behind her and clean them up.

Learn how to use kitchen gadgets:

Toaster, Hand Mixer, Blender, and Can Opener are just a few of the kitchen gadgets that adults use on a regular basis. I am trying to teach my kids to operate these safely and without making a huge mess. True, my kids did spray buttercream icing all over the counter and walls one time but I think they now know how important it is to keep the hand mixer inside the bowl.

Think Outside the Traditional Box

When kids follow new recipes, they learn to think outside the box. Typically for sugar cookies, you use eggs, butter, sugar, and flour, but not mayonnaise. The girls followed a brand new recipe when they were making sugar cookies and discovered that using a non-traditional ingredient yielded some pretty tasty results.

Sometimes it’s fun to give your kids a new kitchen gadget that lets them try new combinations. Banana Loca lets you core and fill bananas while in their peel to make a fun snack. The results are simply delicious and totally unexpected! This new kitchen gadget straightens a banana, cores it while still in the peel, and allows you to fill it with a variety of tasty food pairings like yogurt, honey, jams and jellies, peanut butter, and Nutella. 

Give it your full Concentration:

I will never forget the time I was in upper elementary school and I decided to cook supper for the family. Our mashed potatoes earned themselves a place in family history. I don’t think they were actually mashed potatoes – more like potato soup or something else that wasn’t really edible. When you cook, you must concentrate and really focus on what you are doing.

Work Together

Cooking is like many other things in life – It goes much smoother when you work together. I love watching the kids make, bake and decorate cookies. They have to compromise on who got to do the ‘fun’ parts of the cooking experience. Who stirs the dough? Who gets to roll the balls? Coat them with sugar? What size cookie balls were perfect? Only by working together are they able to create the perfect cookies.

Do you enlist your kid’s help in the kitchen? I would love to hear your best tips and experiences!