The Seasoned Kids
Lesson 6: Teaching to Pour
Pouring is one of those kitchen activities that makes us as parents want to gouge our eyes out. It’s cringeworthy. We want to let them have independence but standing there trying not to help them while seeing the huge potential of a disastrous mess is enough to make us reach for the anxiety meds. Am I right?
But I digress.
It’s one of the most important lessons they’ll learn while being in the kitchen. Just take my advice and go ahead and order extra paper towels to have on hand. You may even contemplate buying stock.
How to Start
If you think about it, there’s not many recipes that you make in the kitchen that don’t require you to pour at least one thing while you are making it. We suggest you start teaching by helping them in the beginning. Letting them hold onto the milk container or pour their own juice, for example. We also started by letting our girl pour from measuring cups with our aid into larger bowls. She’s now about to be 4 and she does a really good job with minimal mess about 90% of the time. You’ll see in the video below that there’s typically always a little mess. But hey, we’re learning here folks! Messes can get cleaned up!
Tips for teaching your kids to pour
- Use a learning tower to get them stable at the counter
- Standing on a stool or sitting on the counter, doesn’t stabilize kids as much as a tower will
- Use containers with spouts on them.
- For pouring into small openings, try using a funnel with them.
- In the beginning, only do cold or room temperature foods, no hot liquids.
- Always try to use lightweight containers until they have mastered the concept of pouring
- We recommend having them pour into larger bowls in the beginning, instead of smaller ones.
- The larger surface area reduces the risk of a mess
One thing we found super interesting from watching our older girl was that while we as adults typically pour above a container (below), it is easier for her to rest the container she’s pouring on whatever she is pouring into for added stability.
Recipe Time!
We’re so excited to share these super delicious Chocolate Peanut Butter Yogurt Pops! Watch her make it then grab the recipe below!
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**Note: This recipe is based on our popsicle molds that we have on hand. You may need to make more or have some mixture left over depending on the molds that you have.
This post is a part of our “The Seasoned Kids”, kid’s cooking series. Learn more about The Seasoned Kids here.
Previous Lessons!
Week 1: Teaching Importance of Washing Fruits and Vegetables + Berry Parfait Recipe
Week 2: Learning to Stir + Cranberry Coconut Energy Bites
Week 3: 3 Ways to Mash + Overnight Oats Recipe 3 Ways
Week 4: Spreading + Peanut Butter and Jelly Spider Sandwiches
Week 5: Tearing + Bugs on a Log
Funny Blooper Time!
Each week, we’ll share at least one funny blooper that happened during our shoot! The funniest thing that happened this week was when our girl accidentally put the popsicle sticks in upside down. You can see that by watching the video above if you haven’t already!
We're Parents is a unique mom and dad natural parenting blog focusing on topics such as breastfeeding, babywearing, and car seat safety. You'll also find Delicious recipes, inspired travel recommendations, and more as you journey with us through parenting. 
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