Cooking with your kids is a fun way to spend time together. Most children eagerly take to cooking, especially projects that provide plenty of hands-on experience. What child can resist the chance to play with his or her food?

Even the most reluctant young chef can be coaxed into cooking if it involves rolling cookie dough into little balls for Peanut Butter Jammies or using safety scissors to cut bits of dough to roll in cinnamon and sugar for Cinnamon Buttons. Hiding cubes of cheese inside meatballs provides a more challenging task to entertain older kids.

Spending family time in the kitchen has other benefits. "Cooking together is a great time for parents to talk with their children about what makes a healthful meal," says Melanie Polk, R.D., director of nutrition information for the American Institute of Cancer Research (AICR). The AICR encourages kids "to learn to cook, which, in turn, will help create healthy eating habits for a lifetime."

These very simple, kid-friendly recipes are a great way to begin teaching basic kitchen skills and encourage an interest in cooking. You may discover you have an able assistant for making future family meals. And there's an extra perk for parents of picky eaters: Kids are usually more willing to eat something they had a hand in cooking.