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Children are adventurous and curious little people who try to mimic what they see happening around them. If your child keenly watches you cook, then they are probably also very interested in cooking and doing what you do. 

Obviously cooking is not very safe when small children are on their own. They should be monitored and helped throughout the entire process so that they can have a safe and enjoyable experience. 

However, helping too much can also be troublesome as the child may claim that you are not letting them do anything, or any of the fun parts of cooking. 

Avoid arguments with your child and let cooking be an enjoyable and bonding experience by trying out easy recipes at first, and slowly introducing new cooking techniques as the child gains more interest.

1. Ice Cream Experiment

Cooking already looks like a huge science experiment, so why not involve some actual science in it and have the kids enjoy the process?

The ingredients you will need for this are:

• A base for the ice cream- could be any kind of juice or milk-based beverage

• Salt

• Ice

• One small ziplock bag

• One large ziplock bag

You will pour your chosen base into the smaller ziplock bag, and pour ice and salt into the larger ziplock bag. Then put the smaller bag inside the larger bag, ensuring that the small bag is properly sealed. Shake the larger bag for about 10-15 minutes, pipe your ice cream into a bowl and enjoy!

2. Breakfast Popsicles

Every kid loves ice creams. And what if they get to eat them for breakfast? Even better! 

The ingredients needed are:

• Yogurt

• Fruit of choice 

• Sweetener of choice (honey or sugar)

• Popsicle molds OR paper cups and popsicle sticks

• A blender (The adult may need to assist when the blender is used)

Combine yogurt, fruit and sweetener in the blender and pour the mixture into your molds. Then put the filled molds in the freezer and let the kids enjoy them for breakfast the next day or even as a midday snack on a hot day!

3. Bread Pizza

Ice cream for breakfast and pizza for lunch? Yes, please! 

Rest assured that these are simple to make and just as healthy as you control what exactly goes into this pizza!

The ingredients you will need are:

• Any choice of sliced bread

• Tomato sauce

• Cheese

• Chopped vegetables

• Italian herbs

(Note: this pizza can either be baked or cooked on a stovetop. Depending on your child’s motor skills you may or may not need to help them with that step.)

Place slices of bread onto a baking sheet and spread tomato sauce (not ketchup) onto them. Next, place your chosen vegetables and desired quantity of cheese onto the bread and sprinkle on some Italian herbs. 

After assembling the slices you can either bake them in the oven or heat them on a stove top on low heat until the cheese melts. Enjoy!

Important: Kitchen Safety

Teach your kids about the safety precautions they should take whilst in the kitchen, such as placing their knives properly, not using electrical appliances near the fire, etc. This only aids in their growth.

One way to achieve kitchen safety would be by putting up kitchen rules in an entertaining form. Let your kids read those rules before they begin working on a meal so that they never forget and keep themselves out of harm's way. 

You can even start a blog about the various safety measures that must be taken while working in the kitchen, especially with young hands wanting to help out and contribute.

If you fear you do not have the appropriate writing skills, take help of creative writers and publish an informative and interactive blog where parents with young children can share and discuss their insights.

Conclusion

There are many more recipes you can try with your kids, these are just some suggestions which require absolutely minimal involvement of the supervisor, allowing the children to explore and make their food to their liking and as their curiosity sees fit. 

It is important to include kids in the cooking process so that they can acquire important life skills. This also helps them become more appreciative of what's being served to them when they know about the effort that goes in cooking  (and clean-up!).