Kids, at a certain age, anyway, really like to help out. I see how my 2 ½ likes to go the fridge, take a glass, and pours himself milk when I have no idea what he is up to. It is such a blessing that he can get through this process without breaking the glass or spilling the milk, and I am usually thankful if he hasn’t just polished off a hamburger just moments earlier. This age is a great opportunity to take advantage of early childhood “helpfulness” and give your little ones a good grounding in keeping kosher that will stay with them for the rest of your lives.
One of the easiest ways to keep a kitchen kosher is by color coordinating. Red has become the “universal” symbol for meat, blue for dairy and green and yellow for parve. It might be a challenge to make everything these colors, but with kids’ colorful plastic plates and cups, it is a lot easier. Kids love color, and you can get your child to set the table with dairy, for instance, and he or she will gladly take out the blue items or for meat, the red cups and plates will be taken out of the cupboard.
You can treat going to the store like a treasure hunt, and have your kids search for foods with the right kosher label on them. This will be a good way to make your life easier, since you will eventually be able to trust your kids to help you with the kosher shopping. You can test your children on what is dairy, meat or parve as the food goes into the cart, and your children might just volunteer to put away the groceries (although you will want to ensure that you can find them again!)