Who’s the top chef in your family?

What if instead of watching a cooking show on TV, you organized a family cooking contest?

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If you’re stuck at home and need to find some fun activities for your kids, why not try a cooking competition? It’s a great opportunity for the whole family to have fun and give your kids some basic cooking skills!

To organize a cooking competition worthy of its name, you as a parent should play the jury. If there are more than four kids taking part in the competition, split them into teams. Make sure the teams are fair. Each child or each team should draw lots – to prepare one of the three courses: appetizer, main course, or dessert. You can also expand the competition to include non-alcoholic cocktails and snacks. If your kids are old enough, you might make the contest even more challenging in imposing some ingredient, color, or theme to work with. Set the timer: the teams have one whole day to complete their recipe research, prepare it, and serve it.

To find their dish, some participants may want to go on the internet, or social media platforms like Instagram or Printerest, while others can call on their grandparents or relatives for help. Once the recipe has been chosen, it should be approved by the jury. Parents can then help younger children to prepare their dish and ensure their safety. Once the meals have been prepared, the jury can taste each dish and give their notes.

Each member of the jury must have a piece of paper, which includes the names of participants and four sections – taste, cooking skills, presentation, and originality. Do abstain from severe judgments, which might leave a young chef with a bad memory of what should be a fun experience.

Also, consider adding one last category for judging — tidying up!

At the end of the competition, the jury can distribute small prizes to all the competitors, and then eat all the finished dishes together!

Olivia de Fournas

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