Kids of even really young ages are more capable than we give them credit for. A four year old is perfectly capable of helping prep dinner, provided you line up

Kids of even really young ages are more capable than we give them credit for. A four year old is perfectly capable of helping prep dinner, provided you line up the right tasks. ("Tear up this lettuce, get 5 forks out, ...."). By six years old, a child should easily be comfortable handling more complex tasks like emptying/loading dishes, cutting up ingredients, kneading dough, or measuring out items from a recipe. (Provided they can be loosely measured.) My parents kicked me out of the kitchen when I cooked, and I got really good at playing videogames to pass the time but today I have zero relationship with either parent. Cooking and doing chores with my kid is incredibly rewarding time, and we both seem to get a lot out of it.