How do you get kids cooking without chaos?

Cooking with children rarely looks like the photographs. There is flour in places flour shouldn't be, an egg on the floor and a long debate about who gets to stir. It is also one of the best things you can do in a kitchen, because in our experience children who cook get curious about food, proud of what they made and more willing to taste it.

Set up first

Chaos mostly comes from waiting. Before calling anyone over:

• Get everything out. Ingredients, bowls, spoons, a cloth. A small version of mise en place saves a lot of wandering.
• Pick a station. A sturdy step or stool at counter height, or a low table with a wipeable cloth.
• Aprons and sleeves up. Hair tied back.
• A bowl for shells and scraps. A big one.
• Decide what is theirs. One or two clear jobs beats "help me".

Short sessions work best. Better to invite them in for the fun part than to have a bored child halfway through a long recipe.

Jobs by age

These are rough guides; children vary hugely, and you know yours.

Very young children

• Washing vegetables in a bowl of water.
• Tearing lettuce, herbs and bread.
• Stirring cold mixtures.
• Sprinkling cheese or toppings.
• Squashing soft things: bananas, cooked potatoes, avocados.
• Brushing oil with a pastry brush.

Young primary-school age

• Measuring with cups and spoons.
• Cracking eggs into a separate cup (fishing out shell is a skill).
• Whisking, mixing dough, kneading.
• Grating cheese or carrots with a box grater, carefully.
• Rolling, cutting shapes, assembling pizzas.
• Cutting soft things with a child-safe or table knife.

Older children

• Chopping with a proper knife, taught the claw grip and the bridge grip, with you beside them.
• Peeling with a peeler.
• Stirring at the hob with supervision.
• Following a simple recipe from start to finish.
• Planning a dish and helping shop for it.

Whatever their age, an adult stays in charge of hot ovens, boiling water, hot oil and sharp blades.

Tasks that feel real

Children notice when they are given a pretend job. The best tasks change the finished dish in a way they can point at:

• Pizza: they stretch and top their own.
• Fresh pasta: making the well, mixing, kneading and cutting shapes. See fresh pasta without a machine.
• Gnocchi: rolling ropes and cutting little pillows.
• Bruschetta or crostini: rubbing garlic, spooning tomatoes, drizzling oil.
• A crostata: pressing pastry, spreading jam and laying the lattice.
• Salads: washing, spinning and dressing.
• Frittata: cracking and whisking eggs, choosing fillings.

Accepting the mess

The flour will be on the floor. That's the deal. A few things that keep it manageable:

• Work over a tray or baking sheet to catch spills.
• Use bigger bowls than you think.
• Put a damp cloth under the bowl so it doesn't spin.
• Clean up together at the end, as part of cooking, not a punishment.
• Lower your standards for neatness. Lumpy gnocchi taste exactly the same.

Keeping it fun

Let them taste as they go. Ask what they think it needs. Let them name the dish. Take a photo of the result. And eat it together, at the table, even if it looks a bit wild. Pride is the best seasoning.