Do your kids like to spend their time making amazing mud pies or are they constantly stirring their best herb soup? Then maybe it’s time to let them loose in the kitchen with these fun cooking activities for kids.
1. Let your children create a new recipe. Choose 5-7 ingredients that you think can go together and can be baked in a cake pan. For example, eggs, cheese, barbecue sauce, salt, flour, garlic powder, and corn chips can go together. Kids can also try a combination of cinnamon, eggs, flour tortillas, caramel sauce, and bananas. You may need to help them determine “reasonable” amounts for each ingredient. There is no correct answer; have fun with it.
2. Start a children’s cookbook. Everyone has recipes they love, including children. Have your child choose 10 of his favorite recipes. You or they can type the recipes on the computer in a cool font with borders and some clip art. Print and “laminate” them with clear adhesive paper. Then they can save the recipes in their own cookbook.
3. Give your child an easy kid-friendly recipe to make on his own. Children love to spread their wings and do things “by myself”. Give them a chance by giving them a super easy recipe and explaining how to make it. Depending on your age and ability, talk about kitchen safety and that you will handle the oven / stove portion of the chore.
4. Have the children take pictures of themselves while cooking. They can make a little scrapbook filled with photos of their proud cooking moments. They will really enjoy this now, but also after they have grown up. Looking at your children’s scrapbook and cookbook can remind them of good times as a family.
5. Decorate the cupcake challenge. Most kids have no problem creatively decorating a cupcake when given the right ingredients. Turn the activity around by taking out all the possible ingredients you can think of and asking them to decorate the cupcake to make it look like a cat or a flower. They will appear with some decorative toppings you didn’t think of.
All of these kids cooking activities give you a chance to teach your kids the ins and outs of cooking. Your children also have the opportunity to learn many things in a fun environment. Give your child every opportunity to be creative in the kitchen and your child will thank you one day.