7 Tips for Getting Your Kids Interested in Cooking

Getting kids involved in the kitchen and cooking can seem challenging for most parents. Teaching your kids how to cook is an important life skill they will need. Yet, if you find that they would rather do something else every time you ask them to help, you need to get creative using these great tips.

#1. Have Them Pick Something They Want to Make

Whether it’s dinner or dessert, when you let your kids pick out what they want to make, they will be more likely to want to help make it. Once they decide what to make, help them find a recipe and make out a shopping list of items they will need to get.

#2. Take Them Grocery Shopping

Now that your kids know what they want to make, they need to get ingredients from the grocery store. You can also encourage them to select other items of new things they might want to try, such as a new fruit or vegetable.

#3. Make Cooking Like a Game

To get your children in the kitchen, you want to make it fun like their favorite board game or video game. Start by thinking about what you need to do to prepare the meal. For example, if there are things to crush up, like tomatoes, toss them into a zip-locking plastic bag and let them use their hands to smash whatever you need crushed.

#4. Choose Age-Appropriate Cooking Tasks 

When assigning tasks in the kitchen, make sure it is something they can do, such as:

  • Gathering Ingredients
  • Measuring Ingredients
  • Pushing Buttons on the Stove, Microwave, Food Processor, Etc.
  • Using Different Kitchen Tools
  • Reading the Recipe and Making It Themselves (with Parental Supervision)

#5. Pique Their Interest in Food

There are several ways to get your children more interested in food and cooking. You could watch food shows with junior contestants. You could get them their own set of kitchen tools. You might also host a cooking or baking party for them and their friends where all the kids get to make something like individual pizzas.

#6. Start a Garden

Another way to get kids more interested in food and cooking is to have them try growing their own food. Starting a garden is an excellent family-bonding activity too. Everyone can pick out their favorite fruits and vegetables they want to grow.

#7. Get an Outdoor Pizza Oven

outdoor pizza oven

Just about every kid loves pizza. When you have an outdoor pizza oven, they will be more interested in helping when they know they get to make pizza. A pizza oven is also perfect for roasting and baking, so you can use your pizza oven to further expand your kids’ interest in food and cooking.

Why Get an Outdoor Pizza Oven for the Family?

Family having meal outdoor

Having an outdoor pizza oven and cooking outside is a great way to enjoy family time together. You can create new memories while you share cooking stories with your parents or grandparents. Plus, when you host birthday parties, anniversaries, and other family gatherings, everyone will enjoy cooking together outdoors using your pizza oven.

Other benefits of investing in an outdoor pizza oven include:

  • Making pizza with your kids is easy and fun.
  • Your kids can learn how to knead pizza dough and stretch it.
  • You can introduce new foods to your kids that they can put on their pizzas.
  • Your kids can help prepare the toppings for the pizzas.
  • Your kids are more likely to experiment with new flavor combinations.

Get Kids Cooking with a Fontana Forni Pizza Oven

The mangiafuoco wood oven

Find the perfect outdoor pizza oven for your family at Fontana Forni today. We feature a variety of wood-burning and gas pizza ovens 100% made in Italy using the highest quality materials handcrafted by artisans. For further information or assistance selecting the perfect outdoor pizza oven, please feel free to contact us at 877-842-9822.