The perfect trail mix is whatever you want to mix together. Traditional healthy trail mix is made of nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and sweets—and you can add some crunch and spices.

1½ cups raw nuts: almonds, pecans, walnuts, cashews, peanuts, pistachios (If you have a nut allergy, skip this option.)

1 cup raw seeds: sunflower, pumpkin, pepitas

1 cup unsweetened, unsulphured dried fruit: apricots, mangoes, raisins, cranberries, dates

Sweets (amounts vary): chocolate-covered nuts, gummy bears, chocolate candies, peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, dark chocolate chunks

Crunch (amounts vary): sesame sticks, pretzels, tortilla chips (broken into small bites), popcorn, puffed rice, shredded wheat, roasted chickpeas

Spice (optional): ¼ teaspoon sea salt, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, pinch of nutmeg

Choose whichever ingredients you desire and add them to a large mixing bowl. Mix everything together well, and then portion it out for snacks. Store your trail mix in sealed containers, in a cool place. It should be fine for at least six months. If you don’t plan on eating it within that time frame, put it in plastic resealable bags, remove as much air as possible, and freeze it.

It’s okay for kids to make mistakes in the kitchen, as long as the mistakes do not involve knives or the stove or oven. Learning from mistakes is part of the process. Kids can follow these ten easy tips to make fewer mistakes.

1. Check to make sure you have all the ingredients before starting a recipe. Nothing is worse than not being able to complete a recipe because of a missing ingredient.
2. Pay attention to whether a recipe calls for baking soda or baking powder. Using one or the other makes a big difference.
3. Read the entire recipe before starting. You might find that the dough needs to be refrigerated for a few hours, and you won’t be able to complete the recipe in time for dinner.
4. Wear an apron. Spills are unpredictable and unavoidable.
5. Pay attention when preheating the oven, and wait until it reaches the desired temperature. You will not save time by rushing.
6. Unplug the electric mixer before attaching or removing blades.
7. Crack eggs into a separate bowl and remove any eggshells before adding them to the other ingredients.
8. Use measuring cups and spoons and double-check your measurements. Measurements should be exact, especially when baking. Level off ingredients with the top of the measuring cup.
9. Wipe up spills immediately to avoid slips and falls.
10. When using an appliance for the first time, ask for instructions and a demonstration.

How do you judge whether a child will be able to make a recipe? A child’s age can be a guide. Kitchen Ink publishes cookbooks for children of all ages, and each book indicates the recommended age range. Another factor affecting readiness is how much time the child has spent in the kitchen working with kitchen utensils and recipes. Depending on how long they have been cooking, two 4-year-olds might have completely different kitchen skills, with the more experienced child able to tackle more challenging recipes. Besides experience, children’s coordination, reading skills, strength, and skill at following instructions will also affect their ability in the kitchen. Kitchen Ink’s recipes vary from simple ones for beginners to more difficult ones for children whose kitchen skills are improving.

The following expectations and tasks can be used as a guide for readiness:

Ages 2–3 — Put on an apron, as there will be smiles and spill! Children of this age have short attention spans and will want to grab everything you put in front of them. Take the little ones outside to the garden to help pick vegetables for the evening meal. Pull a stool up to the sink and have them wash the veggies. When following a recipe, pre-measure ingredients and have the child add them to the bowl. Kneading dough is fun—just always make sure hands are washed before touching the dough.

Ages 4–6 — Hand and eye coordination improves, and attention span increases. Kids should review recipes with an adult, gather ingredients, help create a shopping list, and accompany the adult to the market. For meal prep, an adult can introduce knife safety skills. Perhaps the child can use a kid-safe knife to practice cutting and chopping, or a vegetable peeler to peel carrots and potatoes. The child can help clean up spills and messes and help set the table while the meal is cooking. Learning to clean up the kitchen and clear the table is just as important as preparing the meal!

Ages 7–9 — Discuss what you want to prepare together and create a meal plan. Reading and following simple recipes using small appliances (with adult supervision, of course) should be expected. Assist with learning fractions by using measuring cups and spoons and stressing the importance of following proper measurements. Demonstrate a cooking skill. Then, step back and let them take over.

Ages 10–14 — Children have much more independence and need little adult supervision. Kids should be able to follow a recipe from start to finish, use a food processor to prepare a recipe, and enjoy working on food presentation skills, such as decorating cakes. Adults should be on hand to keep a watchful eye when stoves are used and to assist with instruction for more advanced cooking techniques, such as sautéing, searing, browning, baking, and broiling. At this age kids take pride in completing a recipe. When a recipe doesn’t turn out right, the adult can help to identify what went wrong, so the kid can correct and redo the recipe.