There aren't many kids (or many adults) who don't like pancakes. And your basic pancake recipe, made from scratch, is easy enough to whip up on a lazy Saturday or Sunday morning, especially with a kid or three to help. I favor this recipe from Pioneer Woman blogger and cookbook author Ree Drummond, but you can certainly substitute another recipe or even use your favorite boxed pancake mix. There are some good tips for producing perfect pancakes, but when cooking with kids, it's more fun (and helpful) to concentrate on edible and fun, and cooking together.

One reason that pancakes are fun to make with kids is that they're easy; even six and seven year ol ds with adult supervision can help mix them; at the very least, they can stir the batter. It's also fun to add nuts, or berries, or bannas to the batter (be sure to keep food allergies in mind), or add a little food coloring (red pancakes for Valentines, green pancakes for St. Paddys). And then there's the potential for decorating the pancake after it's cooked as well; butter and sprinkles? A dusting of powdered sugar from a salt shaker you've emptied? Scatter a handful of chocolate chips between two pancakes, and top it with berries and whipped cream or yogurt?

But the best part is actually cooking them. Kids will enjoy the standard method of using measuring cup with a spout on it (use a 1 cup liquid measuring cup with kids, and have a spare hand for helping at the ready) to make round pancakes. But what's even more fun is to use an empty and clean squeeze bottle filled with batter to control the pancake shapes. You can make letters and numbers (yes, my mom snuck in educational activities all the time; took me years to figure it out). You can make smiley faces (first do the eyes and mouth, then the round circle for the face). You can use ring-style cookie-cutters, fill them with batter, and lift away the ring once the pancake is cooked enough. You can make hearts (practice now for Valentine's, or Mother's Day or Father's day). You can make silver dollar pancakes. Or you can make regular round pancakes and, right after pouring, decorate them with raisins, nuts, berries, or chocolate chips. If you do this right away, and turn them carefully, they're fun and quite attractive as well as tasty.

Be prepared for a little extra clean-up though. You might want to cover the working area of a your kitchen floor and counter with newspaper, and the children with aprons or an oversized t-shirt you can just put in the wash, to save their clothes.

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