One of the best things you can do for your kids is to bring them into the kitchen with you when you’re cooking. The younger the better; it’s never too early to get them interested in cooking.

While it may seem like more work to have your kids helping to prepare a meal, and it often is – particularly when they’re little – in the end you’ll benefit from having a helper, someone who will be self-sufficient, and who might even cook dinner for you once in awhile.

Having kids help with cooking gives them something to do. It allows them to imitate mom or dad.  It provides bonding time, and it teaches them numerous skills that they will be able to draw from their entire life.

One of the best things they’ll learn is how to prepare food at home. This will help them appreciate fresh ingredients and develop a sense of nutritional content. The more they can cook at home, the less likely they’ll be getting take-out or junk food somewhere else. They’ll be in control of their diet and what goes into their bodies.

Obviously they can’t do much when they’re very young. But even a baby can sit nearby and watch, and play with small pots and spoons and measuring cups designated for baby play.

When they’re able to stand close by on a step stool they can be taught how to carefully pour water from measuring cups into a mixing bowl and how to stir. They can take turns hitting the top of a chopper or pressing on a salad spinner.

When my kids were three and four, I’d have them help decorate cookies, knead bread dough and peel oranges. When making pancakes, they could pour the ingredients and do the stirring, and for dinner they could set the table and arrange vegetables on a tray. Anything that doesn’t involve boiling water, sharp instruments or a hot stove is fair game for the little ones. My five-year-old loves to help me sift flour, run the hand mixer and put baking trays in the oven. He also knows how to properly wash vegetables like broccoli, asparagus and peppers. Getting him used to these vegetables increases his interest in them, which is why he doesn’t shy away from eating them at dinner time.

As they get older, they can graduate to things like cracking eggs, measuring ingredients and even making simple sauces over low heat with supervision. All that’s required there is measuring, stirring, and patience.

By the time they’re twelve they should be able to learn basic kitchen knife skills, such as chopping, peeling and dicing (again, with supervision). They can be taught cooking techniques, such as sweating vegetables, braising meats, making dough and boiling pasta. My thirteen-year-old daughter is my official sous chef. When I announce that I’m going to make dinner, she jumps into the kitchen, dons her apron, washes her hands and asks what we’re making and how she can help. I assign her the tasks that are on par with her learning, while I show her some of the more advanced things I’m doing, and why each step is important. She’s successfully made chocolate chip cookies, ratatouille and most recently smoked Salmon sushi. I know that when she’s out on her own, she’s going to be an excellent cook because she’s learned to love cooking.

Kids love to do what their parents are doing, and from a very early age want to help. You can take advantage of that love by bringing them into the kitchen to help. It may require a little more effort on your part, and maybe a lot more cleanup, but in the end you’ll both be glad you did.

So, when your kids ask, “What’s cooking Dad?”  You can say, “I’m glad you asked.  I could use some help!”

Tom Bowns is a Contributing Writer for Discovering Dad. His personal site is Being Michael’s Daddy. You can also follow Tom on Twitter @michaelsdaddy.

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Last April my wife and I received an unexpected reality check:  We were pregnant.  Again.

I’ll be honest with you, it took us a few weeks to warm up to the idea of a third child. We were happy with the two children, and the even numbers made it easy for my wife and I to divide and conquer when it came to bed time and other parental routines.

Early in the pregnancy, though, our anxiety turned into excitement, and our worry turned into a focus on our children to prepare them for the arrival of the new baby.

Here are five things we did that I feel had the biggest impact in preparing them for their new sibling:

• Babies are busy little bees – Our doctors gave us a poster that outlines the baby’s development month-by-month. We brought it home and hung it on the fridge. Our kids began looking forward to the new month, so that they could turn the page and see what their new brother or sister would be doing over those next four weeks. If you cannot find one to hang on your fridge, Sutter Health has a great Cliff’s Notes version of this.

• One-on-one time – We always tried to spend time with each of our kids one-on-one but after finding out about the new baby, we made an even bigger effort. We explained to my in-laws how important it was that the kids continue to have quality time with us, as well as with their grandparents, during the pregnancy as attention began to swing toward the new arrival. We did this so that the kids would know that even after the baby was born, their entire world would not come to and end.    During these “dates” with our kids, we would talk with them about their worries regarding the new baby. We let them know that they were free to say what they wanted and open up to us with their emotions. Through this process, we also were able to share our own worries about a new baby. They both came to understand that a new baby really is a big deal but that, as a family, we would adapt and welcome the new baby with love and care.

• The freedom to choose – We let them be as involved (or not) as they wanted with the pregnancy. All of our pregnancies have been handled through a birthing center, staffed by licensed nurses and doctors who happen to follow midwifery/natural birthing practices. Because of this, they’re more accepting of involving our kids. They let our youngest help with the hand-held heart monitoring equipment, dedicated an entire appointment to showing the kids with the birthing center itself and gave them a kid-friendly overview of child birth.When our son was born, our daughter came into the room with us when she felt comfortable doing so. This was usually to check on her mom, pat a washcloth on her forehead and tell her “You’re doing a good job, Mommy!” She even had the opportunity to cut her baby brother’s umbilical cord.

• Don’t keep them in the dark – We wrote up a birth plan, reviewed it with our family members and also talked to the kids about it. For those of you who are unfamiliar with what a birth plan is, it’s a formal request of certain things during the labor and care for the baby after birth. Our birth plan contains things such as family members we welcome to attend the birth; stipulating that, per my wife, painkillers were not to be administered unless she specifically asked for them; and who was going to be caring for our children. The kids have known for months who will be with them during the labor so they are not worried about being overlooked or forgotten in the chaos. For more information about birth plans, click here. If you would like to see a copy of our birth plan, feel free to email me.

• “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” – Dr. Seuss wrote it and kids respond to it. When their mom started showing, the kids seemed a bit stand-offish about the thing growing and moving inside their mom’s belly. We helped them get comfortable with the notion by talking to the baby. I give my wife’s belly a kiss and talk to it when I get up in the morning, when I go to work and when I come home, just as I do with them. Slowly but surely the kids began to talk to the baby, too. Even though they haven’t been able to see or hold their new sibling, the kids already feel a connection to it and have begun to proactively establish a relationship with their new brother or sister.

Please feel free to share your tips on how to prepare kids for the arrival of a new baby in the house too!

Daniel De Guia is a Contributing Writer for Discovering Dad.  His personal site is deguia.net. You can also connect with Daniel via Twitter @deguia.

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Congratulations to the following winners of the Max Spaniel Dinosaur Hunt book giveaway:

Sheila from Mom 2 A Nutball won the Grand Prize

• Autographed copy of Max Spaniel (by illustrator David Catrow)
• One (1) Jumbo kids magnifying glass

Lesa from Conveniently Simplistic, Kerrie Mayans, Janet from Grammy Janet’s Place and Chris from The New Dad Guide all won copies of the new Max Spaniel book too.

Congratulations again to all of the winners! I hope you enjoy the book!

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The other thing I love about the summer is family vacations.  This year, we were fortunate enough to go to the beach (the “shore”) and to Disney World.  We went to the beach with my parents and nephew, and we went to Disney with my inlaws.  Both trips were fantastic, so I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures.

Nothing like starting the first day of vacation with a little PILE ON!:

Here’s Hans and Franz getting ready for the beach:

Here they are trying to pump (*clap*) me up:

After a few hours at the beach, it’s always fun to take a ride on a Pirate Ship:

The kids enjoyed hunting crabs with Nana:

Pop is really good at making me smile:

Nighttime at the beach is fun too, especially at the carnival:

Chani even talked Lori into riding the Himalaya:

It was great to get away and spend time with family at the Shore:

A few weeks later, we headed down to Disney World:

We saw Mickey and Minnie:

And, we ran into Tigger too!:

Grammy and Pop Pop always make things a big (fun) Hoopty Doo!:

And, we got to celebrate a birthday too – Happy Birthday Grammy!:

We almost lost Chani in a rogue rocket accident:

Fortunately, we made friends with someone at Star Command who brought us back together:

To make sure no one got lost, Lori decided to dress all of the girls alike:

Meanwhile, me and Ty got roped into some monkey business:

All-in-all, it was a Magical adventure enjoyed by all:

School starts next week, which means fall is right around the corner.  Our family had a great time this summer, and I hope yours did too!  Please read below for how you can share your favorite summer photos.

If you have a blog, feel free to write a similar post about your summer adventures.  Share your favorite summer pictures too.  Link back to this post, so me and all of the readers of Discovering Dad can share in the fun.  I’m already looking for ideas of fun family things to do for next summer!

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It’s a kids book about a nosey spaniel on the hunt for bones – Dinosaur Bones! He gets into lots of mischief, and much the same as my younger children he uses his imagination and ingenuity to find and build a larger than life dinosaur.

The illustrations are filled with lots of things for kids to discover while reading, kind of like the old Where’s Waldo books but not quite that busy or difficult.

If your toddlers love books as much as mine, then leave a comment with a description of your favorite pet from any time throughout your life.  Please share why this pet was your favorite and perhaps a memorable experience of him or her hunting for “dinosaurs” of their own.  You can get a second entry by writing a post about your pet on your own blog and linking back to this post.

One (1) Grand Prize winner receives:

• Autographed copy of Max Spaniel (by illustrator David Catrow)
• One (1) Jumbo kids magnifying glass

Four (4) runner-up winners will also receive a copy of the new book

Contest Duration: August 8, 2009 – August 23, 2009

Winners will be announced and notified during the week of August 24 – 30, 2009.

My favorite pet growing up was a dog named Lady.  She was hyper and loving, and she peed on the floor every time I got home.  She slept in bed with me, which my wife is not likely to believe because as an adult I developed a severe onset of allergies to animals and can now barely sleep in the same house as a cat or dog.  Lady was the best though, and she was a surprisingly good hunting dog.  She and I caught some prized chipmunks in our day, and she was better than any old cat at getting rid of field mice that wandered into our home.  Lady was my favorite pet mostly because she was a fun part of our family.

I can’t wait to read about your favorite pet stories!

Leave a comment now or write a post and link back to this page.

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