How to Use the Kitchen to Spend Quality Time With the Kids

If you need to keep the little ones occupied, look no further than a fun cooking experience where they can learn and be rewarded by a tasty treat at the end. Working together towards the same goal can be lots of fun and a great way of spending time with your children.

Crispy cornflake cakes seem to be universally popular and they are exceedingly simple to make and it's an all-time favourite with the kids! Follow our simple recipe below and see how you get on:

Crispy Cornflake Cakes
What you need for 12-15 cakes:

• 80g Cornflakes
• 50g butter
• 1.5 tbsp. golden syrup
• 100g dark chocolate (broken into small pieces)
• 15 paper cake cases

Step 1: Gradually melt the butter in a pan with the chocolate and the golden syrup over a low heat.

Step 2: Add the contents of the pan into a mixing bowl with the cornflakes. Stir until all the flakes are coated in the chocolate.

Step 3: Add a heaped spoonful of the mixture into each paper case and then put them in the fridge to set. Voila!

If you want to make an omelette you have to break a few eggs so there's a chance that this sticky chocolate mixture could result in some mess and chocolate stains along the way.

Make sure that you all don aprons to protect your clothes. If you happen to fall victim to some unwanted chocolate stains, you can get advice on removing them with Vanish Oxi Action Powder.

Cooking with your kids helps create a special bond and can become a family tradition that they will cherish for years. But before you actually start cooking, think safety!

Plan your project ahead of time - cooking can be somewhat chaotic at the best of times so we would recommend laying out all your ingredients and utensils so you can keep both eyes on your child and the chocolate spoon! . If you've got a little one who is too young to help with the cooking perhaps they can sit in the highchair and watch the mixing, pouring and measuring of ingredients and then join in with the fun messy bit - the decorating!

Wash your hands! - Before any cooking is done, make sure your kids have washed their hands with soap thoroughly. If your kids cough, sneeze or use the bathroom, they should wash their hands again.
Make sure that when you cook, that the environment is free from anything sharp such as knives.

Always supervise the kids when cooking.

Set up clear rules about the stove, oven and any other kitchen equipment.
Practice reading the recipe; it can help your kids with their maths as you measure the ingredients and stir.
Make the cleaning up after the cooking as part of the routine!
All these points are important when wanting to cook with your kids. With this in mind, give your children a sense of control and accomplishment; let them make choices whenever possible and most of all, enjoy the experience!