Five tips to get your kids cooking

Can you turn a fussy eater into an eager little chef? How do you arm your children with the cooking skills that will help them eat well for life? Food writer and Leon co-founder Allegra McEvedy is currently teaching her 7 year old and 5 month old that food is the basic building block of life. She shares her top five tips to get your kids cooking up a storm...

"Get them to do the things they enjoy! Weighing stuff out is fun, whisks are fun - don't make them do things they're not going to enjoy like lots of blunt knife chopping. Think about what you would have enjoyed when you were a child, do a bit of projection, and work with them.

"Work over their shoulders, get your hands involved too - just keep it light and keep the jobs that you give them fun.

"My daughter mashes potatoes, she'll prep the broccoli for me, pulling off stalks -just keep them involved where you can."

"What kids don't love getting messy? Whether it's jumping in puddles or getting food everywhere.

"Just throw the flour all over the table, throw the spaghetti at the wall to test if it's done. If you're going to do icing sugar, do it through a sieve at a height so it goes everywhere and you get huge clouds.

"Encourage them to get chocolate all round their mouths as they taste things - all of that keeps them engaged. Mess is fun for them because they know it's a bit naughty."

"It's really important that you're not just cooking something dull for them. Obviously there's the whole world of baking, cupcakes and birthday cakes, but pancakes are also really fun.

"Most children are going to be a bit too young to pick up the pan and flip it but I get my daughter standing on a chair by the stove, she ladles it in and I swoosh it round the pan and flip it over. We make the batter together and sometimes we fill them up with chicken and prawns and make something savoury.

"I gave my daughter a pasta machine for her 7th birthday because she loves pasta. So she makes a volcano out of the flour and cracks the eggs into it, slowly mixes them in and then gets the pasta machine and works like crazy spinning the handle to make the tagliatelle. It’s very important for kids to know where their food comes from."

"Kids have short attention spans so make it quick - don't try and keep them in the kitchen forever. If it’s something that's going to take a bit of time, you take over.

"Let them wander off when they've had enough, there's no point forcing them to complete the job. It's not work for them, let them stay whilst they're having fun and then if they start to get a bit bored either wrap it up or send them off and finish it by yourself.

"It's just about making them comfortable in the kitchen and comfortable around food. Just making it all a natural part of everyday is the best way to keep them healthy, eating well and making good choices."

"Cooking is a big deal for kids, we're asking a lot of them to be that engaged, so when the goods come out of the oven or the fridge, they are so proud.

"The first time my daughter made pasta, I don't think I've ever seen her prouder of anything in her life.

"So I would always make enough so they can share it with their friends, and have a moment of 'I made this'."

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