By Mei Yee
Do you have little ones who love to help in the kitchen? Sometimes that can be stressful as kids are known to make messes. But there are ways you can have them help without worry about a huge mess.
Have things already premeasured and let them dump them in! You can tell them the order to dump the ingredients in or hand them to them in order. I have found through my children that dumping things from a cup to a bowl is fun and exciting!
Mixing ... Let them mix! If you are mixing by hand, make sure to use a bowl about two sizes bigger than you usually would. This helps prevent ingredients from flying all over, or hold the spatula with them! Same with a hand mixer. Help them hold it so things don’t go flying.
Need to spread something? Example: let them help make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Let them scoop the peanut butter and jelly out with a spoon, and then they can use the back of the spoon to spread it.
Need to cut something up for them like pancakes or the peanut butter and jelly sandwich you just made? Let them use a plastic pizza cutter, sharp enough to cut the food but not fingers. Also much easier and quicker. I use it myself quite frequently.
And have fun with them! It may seem messy to you (as it does to me sometimes), but the kiddos will really enjoy that time with you!
If it does get messy, this would be the perfect time to teach them to clean up after themselves. For more tips on that, check out our post about teaching them how to do that!
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