How to Teach Kids Basic Cooking Skills

Don’t let your kids grow up without learning how to cook! This homeschool curriculum teaches basic cooking skills for kids through engaging videos and hands-on practice.

Images of a young girl learning basic cooking skills like how to wash produce and use a chef's knife.

Cooking from scratch is fast becoming a lost art. But it doesn’t have to be that way!

Most of us are probably comfortable having our kids help in the kitchen, but sometimes it’s hard to know what to teach first, especially when it comes to younger children.

The good news is that there is a step-by-step homeschool curriculum that can help you teach your kids to cook. Even young learners will be able to develop useful kitchen skills using these methods.

Image of tween girl cooking ground beef in a skillet while a younger boy watches.

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Teach Your Kids to Cook Real Food

Kids Cook Real Food is an online video curriculum that teaches kids basic cooking skills and kitchen safety. Starting with the very basics of measuring and following a recipe, kids learn everything they need to know to begin cooking real food.

This is not an “open the box and add a few ingredients” type of course. Instead, each lesson teaches how to prepare real food that you actually WANT to feed your family.

Whether chopping veggies, cooking dried beans, or browning ground beef, your kids will be learning to prepare nutritious foods that will nourish their growing bodies.

Image of a tween girl and a young boy washing produce in a kitchen sink.

How This Cooking Curriculum for Kids Works

The core Kids Cook Real Food curriculum is made up of 3 levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. All 3 levels cover the same basic topics and then branch out into hands-on learning that is appropriate for each level.

For example, in lesson 5, all students watch a video about soaking dry beans. Then each level moves into its own learning:

  • Beginners measure and soak dry beans for cooking the next day.
  • Intermediate students learn about stove safety and cook rice.
  • Advanced learners make homemade refried beans from dry beans.

The awesome thing about the Kids Cook Real Food curriculum is that students can work through all 3 levels consecutively and learn more each time. The topic of each lesson is the same, but the hands-on application is different in every level.

Image of a boy browning ground beef in a skillet while a girl watches.

Why We Love This Homeschool Cooking Curriculum

1. No lesson planning

In the midst of the busyness of homeschool life, it’s hard for me to find time to plan extra learning for my kids. With Kids Cook Real Food, everything is planned out. Each lesson has a list of groceries and supplies needed, and there’s even a handy link to add all the ingredients to Instacart, if you use that service.

2. Engaging video lessons

My daughter has really enjoyed the fun, easy-to-follow videos. In the knife skills lesson, for example, the instructor demonstrated every step and even taught the kids some catchy phrases to remember what motions to use. Love this!

Image of young girl watching a cooking lesson on a laptop.

3. Helpful printables

Lesson plans, recipes, helpful guides to extend the learning . . . they’re all included in a handy downloadable PDF format.

Want to set up your teacher binder ahead of time? No problem! Just go through and print the materials you need, make notes if you want to, and then you’re done.

4. Real-life skill practice

While I love the convenience and student-friendly format of the Kids Cook Real Food course, the absolute BEST part is that my daughter is practicing skills that will benefit her for a lifetime.

Yes, she already knew how to do some basic kitchen work, but I had never thought to teach her some simple things like washing produce. And I certainly had NEVER considered teaching her how to use a chef’s knife!

(She’s fantastic with the knife by the way, and I’m 100% confident that she can chop veggies safely now without my constant supervision, aka nervous hovering.)

Image of tween girl cutting celery with a chef's knife.

Get Started with Kids Cook Real Food

If you’re ready for your kids to start learning to cook real food confidently and safely, you’ll want to take a closer look at Kids Cook Real Food. I know your kids will love it!

And if you have a homeschool co-op that you participate with, you can get group access for one semester for only $35 per student (minimum 5 students). Awesome deal!

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