Cooking together on weekends - actual tips that work

Jan 91 min read

Lotta posts here about cooking with kids but here's what actually works with my 5 and 9yo:

Pizza night - let them make their own personal pizzas with whatever toppings. It's messy but they'll actually eat it because they made it.

Prep day - they wash veggies, I do the chopping, they help assemble stuff. Makes weeknight dinners faster AND they feel included.

Breakfast for dinner - seriously. Pancakes, scrambled eggs, whatever. Less pressure than dinner, more forgiving if it's a disaster.

The key is picking stuff where their involvement actually matters and where it's cool if it's not perfect.

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Comments(5)

MMarcusNew DadJan 10

How do you handle the mess with a 5 year old? Our kitchen looked like a flour bomb went off. Your method seems cleaner.

DDavid M.New DadJan 10

Real question: how long does this take from start to sitting down eating? Trying to figure out if it fits in a typical Saturday before we have to be somewhere.

MMarcus T.New DadJan 11

The pizza dough thing is genius. My kids actually ate what they made instead of just snacking on ingredients and complaining it was taking too long. Game changer for a Saturday afternoon.

CCameronNew DadJan 12

Pizza is such a good call. Way easier than trying to get them to care about a full dinner. Plus they'll actually eat it after. Most cooking projects end with me making them something else because they're not hungry anymore.

TTerrence J.RegularJan 12

Saving this post. Been looking for actual activities instead of just 'throw them in the kitchen and see what happens' vibes.