Two recommendations for parents on cooking with kids: first if you have the opportunity, teach cooking at your elementary school and second, prep all dry ingredients for baking on a day before baking. My kids are now 14, 17 and 20 and still I am drawn in by blogging on cooking with kids. One of my most cherished memories was when my two year old added the cup of milk to my 5lb container of sugar sitting nearby! I believe that cooking with kids taught me to have more patience (maybe the kids a little too). I cooked with all my kids, though now they avoid it if it takes more than warming in the microwave! I hope they will come back to it. If parents have the opportunity, I highly recommend teaching cooking at the elementary school, after school programs are great for this. I "taught" after school cooking class at the elementary school and learned quite a bit about cooking with kids. The best part of teaching in the after school enrichment program was that initially my daughter participated in the class and then quickly became an assistant which I could not do without. She continued to be my assistant even when she was in middle school. She not only learned repeatedly how to measure ingredients and the gentleness required to make tender muffins and scrambled eggs but also how to work with others. My second recommendation helps with the fact that kids quickly loose interest in the process, they want the product. One way to make product happen sooner is to focus on measuring dry ingredients one day and then when convenient, measuring out liquid ingredients and baking. This allows your child (or student) to learn the importance of accurate measurement and not be hurried to get to the end product. Often we get something in the oven (dry ingredients measured at an earlier time) quickly and then to distract them while it is baking, we measure dry ingredients for a baking day in the future. I could write a book on cooking with kids! Those are great suggestions! I love the idea of getting into the classroom to teach kids cooking and baking. I'll have to keep it in mind when my daughter is old enough to start school! By then she ought to be an expert in the kitchen. ;-) Thanks for sharing! -Allison

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