Rules for cooking fun

An accident. Most happen in our direct environment, our homes. Even when you think that you are conscious and you don't take risks, you will be surprised by the unexpected. There are the days that you don't have an angel on your shoulder. Some times you just have a tremendous luck. being with kids in the kitchen is a risk, sometimes. They get eager to get into cooking and you need eyes in your back. Bring them in the kitchen as young as possible. Learn them about the center of the house where all the good things are coming from. learn them about hygiene and washing hands and all tools while working with different ingredients.
Avoid any hyper situation and don't make the project to exhausted. Go for small challenges and let them enjoy the different steps. Give them responsibilities and take care of the overall view and cleaning. Share the moments of being together reading a recipe and making a list for shopping. If you make these processes transparent the next time they can make the list themselves. (I admit we have a small advantage with our local 'shanty town shop' next door. It provides almost everything, it's in fact like the shops we used to have during my youth in the Netherlands: the multi provider, when ever we miss something, we send the guard and he will pick up the butter, the eggs, the onions, garlic, yeast etcetera). Take care that the kids are not too tired and the same for your self.