This year, I’m learning to live with less in my 2014 Simplicity theme year.  That means finding innovative ways to save money so we can spend our money in the places we really need to (or want to). Living with two small boys, we’re always looking for fun, cheap activities that we can do together – I’ve got a great Pinterest board of kid-friendly activities!

Pinspiration: Cooking with Kids.  Even when our kids were pretty small, I’d involve them in helping me cook in the kitchen.  We built dexterity skills by pouring and cracking eggs.  We’re learning math together with measuring cups.  And we’re learning safety tips – like it’s not save to play with the butcher’s knife just because it looks cool.  The best part about the project is we’ve really enjoyed ourselves – and even when the kids say they’re too bored to do anything, they’re always ready to help cook.

Start with the right supplies & attitude. It’s better to cook with kids when you’re in a good, patient mood.  They’re going to make mistakes and messes – and your reaction to this will be essential.  So what if they drop and break a dozen eggs; they’re just eggs and you can work as a team to clean them up together.  Remember, it’s more about loving them than doing it your way.  I’d suggest to start baking with the kids.  They’re certainly most interested in cookies and cupcakes, especially if they get to be the official taste-testers.

Make your project kid friendly.  Think about your recipe in tiny steps and how to make each step special.  We have a stool so our youngest son can reach the counter, he gets so excited when he can get this out.  And we always start with the eggs – because he loves to get these out (and if there is a mess, it’s easy to clean up one thing).  Now he’s an expert with the basic tasks and is able to move on to more advanced tasks – like cutting (with supervision, of course).

Find a recipe that you can make with your kids and plan a special day each week to involve them.  We use Saturday mornings, Sunday afternoons and the evening before an event/party for all of our family cooking and baking projects.