Cooking with Your Kids

Preparing food with your children is not only an opportunity to spend time together, but it helps them learn how to handle foods in a safe, healthful way. Consider these guidelines for kitchen success:

• Choose foods and recipes that match your child’s abilities. For young cooks, use illustrated children's cookbooks that show pictures of the foods, measurements and steps along the way.
• Ask your child to suggest foods he or she would like to make and shop for the ingredients together.
• Go over safety and sanitation tips, beginning with hand washing. Sing two choruses of “Happy Birthday” while you lather up - cleaning your hands for 20 seconds.
• Supervise children as they learn to work with knives, the stove and other potentially dangerous appliances and tools.
  

Have your child help you store food properly for food safety.