This past week I taught a cooking class at Ann Arbor Cooks to a group of kids (9-12 years of age). Our subject was Italy, and homemade pasta and gelato were on our menu. I was a little nervous as rolling pasta can be a little tricky, but I was excited for the challenge.

We started to make our pasta dough by pouring our piles of flour onto the counter and forming a well in the center to crack our eggs into.

Despite my instructions to make the well nice and wide, the kids made their wells into all sizes — most too small, yet perfectly round. They proceeded to crack their eggs into the well, and as they tried to scramble the eggs a bit with a fork, some of them ran over and out of the flour well, causing them to both panic and giggle uncontrollably!

We quickly got control of the situation, and began slowly incorporating the flour into the eggs, which they loved the feel of — mixing gooey raw eggs and cool flour with your hands — the opportunity to get completely and intentionally messy! It quickly turned to hard work as the dough started to come together and required kneading. By the end, they were all quite satisfied to let the dough rest and happy to be able to wash their hands.

As the dough rested, we made pesto, tomato sauce, and a spinach-ricotta filling for our ravioli. They were all excited about the progress in our meal. We returned to our dough and I proceeded to show them how to roll it through a pasta machine — each time through the sheet of dough becomes a little thinner and a little longer. They ooohhed and aaaahhhhed and couldn’t believe how thin the dough could become.

We then split up into groups of two to try their own hands at making homemade pasta. Let it suffice to say that by the end of our class it looked as though a ‘flour bomb’ had exploded in the kitchen, but boy did they have fun! And the beautiful sheets of pasta that they rolled were nothing short of wonderful. They proceeded to cut spaghetti to pair with our pesto, and formed ravioli filled with our delicious spinach-ricotta filling to be paired with tomato sauce. We cooked it all and sat down to enjoy our feast — they were nothing short of impressed with what they had just created!

Children are all so different in their approaches to everything in life, and cooking is no different — some just dive in as quickly as they can, and others are so cautious and meticulous. I am constantly reminded how capable children are in the kitchen. It gives me such satisfaction to see them ‘get it’ and succeed. And when they sit down to enjoy that meal, the satisfied looks on their faces are a constant reminder of how lucky I am to do what I do.

Cooking is a natural and fun activity to do with children, and an easy one to facilitate as most of us cook at home at least a few times a week. There’s no question that it requires a little extra patience, but it goes so much further into developing their eagerness to try new things. It also practices so many things that we try to teach our kids every day (counting, measuring, cooperation, teamwork, self-confidence, etc.) - only discreetly - they don’t even realize they are doing it…

So involve your kids in the kitchen - you’ll be glad you did (after you clean all the messes!).

Natalie Marble is chef/owner of Ann Arbor Cooks! Natalie can be reached at natalie@a2cooks.com or 734-645-1030.