Tips for Cooking with Toddlers

Video Transcript

"LYNN EPSTEIN: Alright, so you have your supplies together. Now, let's think about the kids you're working with. Now, working with small kids can be challenging, but just keep it fun and just remember what they can and can't do, and sometimes figuring out might make a mess, but no big deal. Remember I talked about like thicker spoons, thicker handles to help with rotation. That helps a child just because they just don't have the coordination when they're between the ages of two and five. A lot of those skills are really difficult for them to do so I do what I call hand-over-hand holding where you're actually letting them do it, they think they're doing it but you're really just holding their hand and helping them out. And as you see, when we get ideas of like pouring and mixing, use your judgment, but I say let them do it. Big deal if they make a mess. That's what toweling is for, okay? So, big deal, let the kids do it 'cause that's how they learn. And there's more language about that. When you're cleaning up, you have to talk about that because that's what this is about. While we're doing, we're talking about the colors, what happens next, action words, new vocabulary, ingredients. All this is a lot to take in. So don't worry if it doesn't run smoothly, just have fun and keep the kids involved, ready for the next step?"