For the sake of safety, children should never be allowed to cook alone. and to delegate authority when neccessary. It's also the consultant's job to supervise the use of knives, hot ovens, stovetops, grills. With your help, the littler ones can too! (Or how about a parent-child trip to the local library?)

Older kids can surf the web or scour Mom's cookbooks. for knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world.' Now, I ask you. The idea is not to curb the child's imagination but to nudge, guide and nurture it.Īs Albert Einstein once said: 'Imagination is more important than knowledge. (but did you know that a tiny pinch of ground cinnamon tastes wonderful in Tuna salad? It really does!)

If little Matty starts envisioning Tuna Salad with chocolate-dill pickle sauce, it's the Consultant's responsibility to gently steer the recipe in a different direction. The Consultant must have the patience of a Saint, an unflappable sense of humor and common sense. The job of 'Consulting' has some important requirements of it's own: Don't 'assume' that your child knows how to operate a kitchen appliance just from watching you.Ī refresher course in Kitchen Safety will help prevent mishaps, and here's a very good place to start: (See step 5.) They just might enjoy being 'The BOSS' of something for a change! -)Īn Adult consultant/supervisor (or 2) will be needed for this Challenge.įirst-time-Chefs-in-training need supervision and children should never cook alone. If you have a child who can't participate in food preparation, put them in charge of Entertainment. If you've got a herd of kids, let them pair up into teams. Better yet, invite their friends to join the fun. If your family is small, each member can draw 2 categories. Just for the sake of silly fun, blindfold each 'contestant' (even the teenagers and adults!) and turn them around 3 times.Then have them draw a slip of paper to determine the category of food they'll be preparing. Once the food categories have been determined, write them on individual slips of paper and put them in a hat. The fun starts with a family vote on the party theme, and here are just a few ideas:Ĭhoose food categories for a balanced Potluck Dinner.

Potluck showdown