Ten tips to get your kids cooking this half term

When the half term “I’m bored” song starts singing, drag the kids into the kitchen to help them develop an understanding, love and respect for food they can take through life.

delicious. magazine has ten smart ways to help get you started:

1. Lead by example – if you’re interested in cooking, they’ll be interested.

2. Get them cooking savoury as well as sweet dishes – there’s nothing wrong with the odd batch of biscuits but main courses are the real deal, and kids know that. Plus, it saves you from having to eat endless sticky-finger cupcakes from the queasy five-year-old who’s licked one spoon too many!

3. Give them a job – a kitchen task that’s always theirs. Chopping parsley with scissors in a cup is a good one – children love snipping!

4. Discuss food with them – what they have to say matters. Listen and learn.

5. Harness their competitive spirit Get them smelling different liquids – lemon juice and lime, for example – and take a blindfold test with them. Going head to head with adults can produce surprising results, and boy do they love to beat you!

6. Take them shopping Discuss the uses of everyday items, teach them to look at labels and get little ones to fetch a cucumber or colourful pepper for you.

7. Get the kit – for tinies a hat is good hygiene and feels serious.

8. Don’t be afraid of knives – if you can’t cut you can’t cook. Learning respect for blades is vital, and once a child is seven they can be taught to hold a sharp knife and use it under supervision.

9. Buy a child-friendly cookbook – the best one is The Silver Spoon for Children, which has some seriously good dishes such as chicken with olives. Suggest they serve it with bread and salad the first time – potatoes and vegetables can come later!

10. Eat what they cook! It’s all about respect for the food and the chef, so the whole family should sit around the table to eat it and watch the young chef glow with pride.