'Start with something sweet or sticky': Donna Hay's top tips to get kids cooking

Cooking is a fantastic life skill. Some would say it is the most important.

But in the age of takeaway and food delivery apps, how do you get your kids cooking, and what are some of the added benefits?

According to cookbook queen Donna Hay, the secret to getting kids cooking is start young, keep it simple and be guided by their tastes.

Hay, the mother of two boys now aged 18 and 21, said cooking simple things or starting with food preparation was a good way to begin.

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"Anything that gets kids interested in cooking somehow or into the kitchen at all, I am for," Hay said.

"It's actually good to start with something sweet or sticky to get them interested in cooking.

"It doesn't have to be dinner. You can start with making something for their lunchbox."

Hay's new cookbook, Too Easy, includes a chapter, Super Fast Snacks, with some great lunchbox items, such as Chewy Almond Cookies, that are also easy for kids to make.

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Hay said your child's takeaway suggestions were another way to gauge their tastes and get them cooking.

"If they say 'Mum, can we get this for dinner?' I would say, 'No, but we can make something like that at home.'"

Too Easy includes a chapter called Faster than Takeaway, which Hay was inspired to write after she passed her "55th Uber bike" while driving home one night.

It includes recipes for Chicken Pad Thai, Butter Chicken Naan Breads, Quick Green Chicken Curry, as well as a poke bowl and a selection of pizza, flatbreads and pasta dishes.

Inspiration can also come from current cooking fads, such as air fryers.

Hay herself succumbed to pressure from her sons to buy one. It led to a chapter in her book, Honey, I Bought an Air Fryer, which contains a recipe for Speedy Spinach and Ricotta Pies.

Then there is TikTok. It seems every week brings another food craze (cucumber salad anyone?).

Again, if it gets young people in the kitchen, Hay is on board.

Once you have got them interested in food preparation, Hay suggests moving on to easy-to-prepare meals.

Her top ones for kids are sushi, rice paper rolls and tacos.

"I know some people think rice paper rolls are fiddly to make, but they are really great for little kids," she said.

And cooking together brings added benefits, said Hay.

"When [my boys] were young we would have these really fun conversations while we were making food together," she said.

"When they got older, they arrived at the table and it was just a good time to spend as a family."

Too Easy is available in stores now.