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POSTED: Thursday, Jul. 31, 2008

Get kids comfortable in the kitchen, then get cooking

With the kids home for the summer, some families have a more leisurely morning, and it’s a perfect time to get your children comfortable in the kitchen.

Every child should know some simple tasks: how to use the toaster; how to operate the stove and oven, how to heat water in a kettle or the microwave; and how to measure things.

Breakfast can be a relatively easy meal. Start with something quick like oatmeal. Teach your child to measure liquid and dry ingredi-ents, how to bring water to a boil, how to add ingredients to hot water so as to avoid splashing, how to stir a simmering mixture.

Next, try a more complicated dish such as pancakes. They will need to know how to measure wet and dry ingredients, how to combine wet and dry ingredients and how to tell if the pancake is ready to turn.

Baking also can be a great opportunity to teach a little mathematics, especially when doubling a recipe.

After pancakes, go for a little more complexity — such as a simple omelet of bacon and Cheddar, or maybe spinach, cilantro and Asiago. An omelet may be too complicated for the youngest kids to handle on their own, but let them at least watch as you crack the eggs and beat them, grate the cheese, cook the bacon.

After breakfast, why not try more simple baking, such as cookies or an easy cake?

The idea is to take your time and give your children the confidence to handle things on their own. Pretty soon they will be making you a breakfast in bed that you would actually want to eat.

Above all, remember that in the kitchen — as with all of parenting — patience is a must. And be prepared for a little mess.

Reach Robert Mittendorf, a Herald copy editor and page designer, at robert.mittendorf@bellinghamherald.com. Read his parenting blog at TheBelling-hamHerald.com/blogs.