How to Involve Your Kids in Cooking on the recteq

If you have little people running around, you might be wondering how they can begin learning to enjoy the recteq lifestyle. Besides sitting down to delicious meals time after time, they can also begin to help the grown-ups with some of the important parts of making the meals happen! Here are a few tips to help them fall in love with cooking and score a little more quality time with the family.

Give them Options

Even kids who are veggie-phobic tend to be more open-minded in the produce aisles. Take advantage of their love for control and let them pick the sides to go along with your protein. They might choose something you’ve never considered, but that’s part of the fun. If you aren’t sure what direction to go in, the advice of “eat the rainbow” is still a great guide for produce choices. If your mini-me isn’t that impressed with broccoli or carrots, maybe steer them towards the purple potatoes. Kids will go for weird, every single time!

Start them Young

Even the littlest helpers can shuck the corn, snap the beans, brush on the butter, and mash the potatoes. Toddlers love to get their hands on new textures and the challenge is great to develop those all-important fine motor skills. Anyone can get involved with cooking using the recteq app for easy control and temperature monitoring. Besides the prep-work, there are lots of grill-adjacent tasks that these guys can enjoy. Opening the doors, shaking the spices, setting the table, and even turning on the grill (with grown-up supervision, of course). Our easy start-up is so simple that even your kids can help power up and preheat the recteq! Having a little buddy to help wrestle off the recteq cover could be helpful (we admit, it’s not that easy). You can also let them stir together condiments to create simple BBQ sauces or dipping sauces. Finally, there are plenty of ways for kids to help mom and dad with grill maintenance because the process is just so simple!

Find Kid-friendly Tools

Little hands need small tools and the right accessories can help them feel a part of the meal time magic. Think small tongs, bowls, spoons, and adorable little aprons (kids love to dress up, so take advantage of it!). Silicone basting brushes are also great to add sauces, butter, and dressing to meats and sides. A crinkle cutter is a perfect alternative to a traditional knife, and it will probably make mom and dad a little less nervous in little hands.

Don’t Forget the Older Kids

Looking for ways to draw in your teenagers? Have them scroll social media for wood pellet grill recipes (of course, have them start with recteq’s own recipe library). Challenge them to create an entire meal single-handedly, even if it’s simple, like a pizza. Teens may also enjoy recreating their favorite restaurant dishes. You can usually find “copy-cat” instructions for favorite chain restaurant menu items on Pinterest. As part of the “insta” generation, these chefs-in-training will probably love to capture their creations in photos to share with friends. If all else fails, simply ask them for help! Your teens love to be needed, so don’t forget to tell them their help is valuable and to praise their efforts every single time. Even if they respond with an eyeroll, you better believe they are soaking up the affirmation.

Make Mealtime Sacred

Teaching your kids that family time is important is one of the best lessons you can impart! Without sounding like a goody-goody, nothing kills family vibes like the distractions of phones at the table, so keep mealtime a device-free zone. If it’s hard to get conversations flowing, try Googling “fun dinner topics for families” or “tabletop conversations”. Let your little ones make place cards for the table with funny doodles or stickers. Add some candles and pull out the fine china for the ambience to make dinner extra special. Lastly, for recipes your kids will gobble up with gusto, check out our Kid Friendly Recipes post with easy recipes for the kiddos and family to enjoy.


We’d love to hear how you involve your kids in the recteq lifestyle, so feel free to share your take and tag us on social media!

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