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Getting your kid in the kitchen

Cooking with your kids can be a fun and exciting experience or it can be frustrating — it just depends on how you approach it.

Don't expect to wait until your kids are teens to teach them how to cook either. Lorraine Gose, who teaches cooking to kids at Cooks' Wares at Settler's Walk in Springboro, said that beyond age 13 kids are just too busy.

But until then, kitchen time can be a quality time that can teach your child a lifelong skill.

Consider these tips when getting your kids involved in the kitchen.

• Ask the child what they want to make.

"Children have very definite opinions about what they want to do and it makes it more fun for them if you go along," Gose said.

• Consider their age.

Also consider their attention span and their motor abilities. Not all children are able to do everything in the kitchen.

• Talk to your children about the different ingredients.

"We do a lot of comparison. Why do we choose pretzels rather than potato chips? We look at health benefits," said Kathy Mense, who organizes classes for children through Fort Hamilton Hospital. Fort Hamilton's Center for Health and Wellness has offered programs for teaching kids beginning kitchen skills.

• Keep them busy.

"Don't let them stand there and watch you cook," Gose said. "Even if they are just stirring, they will feel more involved if they are doing something."

• Involve your child.

Include your child in all aspects of the cooking process. Bring them to the store and show them how to pick apples with out dents or explain to them the math behind pouring a cup of milk.

• Teach your kids about safety.

Mense suggests pointing out to keep water away from electrical sockets; proper knife etiquette, including keeping them out of a sink full of water; never to add water to a pan full of hot oil, and always turn the pot handles in to prevent someone from bumping them.

• Teach good hygiene and sanitation.

Kids should count to 20 when washing their hands. Mense said during their programs, the kids all get up and wash their hands together at the very beginning.

Make sure they get permission.

And every parent who has walked in to a kitchen covered with remnants of a try at breakfast knows — "It is very important to have the children know that when they go into the kitchen they need to have proper adult permission before they start," Gose said.

Gose is teaching two classes over the summer at Cooks' Wares. On Aug. 2 a teen's class will be offered, and Aug. 9 a class for slightly younger children is scheduled. Both classes will focus on knife use, cooking techniques and presentation. For more information, call (937) 748-4540.

For more information about Fort Hamilton's Center for Health and Wellness, call (513) 856-9355.