Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. Snacks. Planning meals and preparing meals and cleaning up after them. Parents spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and so do kids. How they help ranges by age, but most kids help out and even show some independence in the kitchen — and they have definite opinions on what they like and what they don’t.

What can you cook?

• Isaac, 4: I can cook turkey and coffee. (This is news to his mom.)
• Evan, 7: Cinnamon rolls, mini apple pies, cookies. I’m a great cook!
• Caroline, 9: Sometimes I make toast, cereal or eggs. I help my mom make desserts like cupcakes or chocolate peanut butter balls.
• Andrea, 11: I cook eggs, tortillas. I help with cookies and brownies. Stuff like that.

I’m a great cook!

What do you do when your parent is making dinner?

• Isaac, 4: I sit at the dinner table and wait. (Also news to his mom.)
• Evan, 7: I help!
• Caroline, 9: Play or sometimes help with the cooking.
• Andrea, 11: If I’m not at soccer, I do my homework.

How do you help in the kitchen?

• Isaac, 4: I help make brownies. But I stay away from the oven. That’s all the things I do.
• Evan, 7: I help cook, grate cheese, peel potatoes, carrots, or apples. I like to zest citrus!
• Caroline, 9: I help getting ingredients or setting the table. If mom or dad need me out of the way while they cook, I go find something to do.
• Andrea, 11: I set the table right before dinner is ready. If we’re having Mexican, I cook the tortillas.

I like to zest citrus!

 Do you ever make your own breakfast before your parents get up? What do you make?

• Isaac, 4: No. I wake Mom and Dad up. That’s what I like to do. I let them know it’s daytime.
• Evan, 7: I heat up cinnamon rolls in the microwave.
• Caroline, 9: I have once, maybe, but I usually sleep in and am the last one awake.
• Andrea, 11: Mostly cereal or yogurt.

What’s your least favorite food that your parents make you eat?

• Isaac, 4: Pizza. Because I just don’t like it.
• Evan, 7: I don’t like mom’s stew.
• Caroline, 9: Asparagus, cooked broccoli, and cooked zucchini. Cooked vegetables taste different than raw.
• Andrea, 11: I don’t like asparagus. My brother and sister are much pickier than I am. We have to at least try everything.

I just don’t like pizza.

What’s your favorite meal?

• Isaac, 4: Chocolate bars! (Really?) Well, steak and mashed potatoes.
• Evan, 7: Orange chicken.
• Caroline, 9: Beans and rice or chicken al fredo.
• Andrea, 11: Fajitas with tortillas and guacamole and rice and beans.