How often do you let your kids loose in the kitchen?  How often do you cook with them?  I am under no illusion that cooking with kids isnt always the easy option, hell it is NEVER the easy options.  It takes longer, is messier and can often be a real challenge.  But the rewards of getting your kids cooking at an early age are amazing, firstly they can cook for you, but it is much more than that.  You are teaching them invaluable skills that will last a lifetime.

Ikea want to encourage us parents to get cooking with our kids more and have introduced a “Cooking With Parents” manifesto from children to parents. It presents five rules that can bring fun back into cooking – but more importantly, bring kids back into the kitchen.

As part of their manifesto, they asked kids to design a kitchen.  Just take a look at the video below, I for one love it!

I have been cooking with my boys since they were old enough to sit up and now they are pretty capable in the kitchen and can nearly cook a full meal with minimum supervision.

So I asked Maxi and Mini, who are nine and ten for their tips for cooking with kids.

5 Rules for cooking with kids by kids

1. Do not stress about the mess.  “It is hard to concentrate on all that I need to do without worrying I am being neat” – Mini, 9.  I try not to worry about the mess as we can all clean it up when the cooking is done.   But beware kids can get bored, so don’t expect them to do the cleaning straight away.
2. Don’t cook with kids when you are short of time. Both my boys hate it when I hurry them.  So make sure you have plenty of time.
3. Let them, choose what they cook.  “I don’t always want to cook what Mum wants me to cook.  I like it when I go through the recipe books and pick my own” – Maxi.
4. Don’t make them wait to eat it.  Kids are no good at waiting, if we cook something sweet then the boys want to eat it as soon as it is cooked!  Let them try to taste the things they are cooking with if they want to.
5. Make it fun and do not take over.  “I love cooking with Mum as she makes it fun and doesn’t take over if I am not doing it right, she just shows me and then let’s me do it my way” – Maxi

This 3 ingredient shortbread recipe is ideal for letting the kids cook with minimum supervision.