Cooking Activities Kids

Tips and Ideas

Cooking activities kids love to do there are so many, you may find it difficult to decide where to start.

I always find the best place to begin is to let your child cook something that they enjoy to eat, that you have made for them before whether it is baking Rainbow Fairy Cakes or Pizza, Scrambled Eggs on toast for lunch, something that is easy and fun to do.

Start a Kids Recipe Book we all have recipes that we love to keep and your kids are no different and if they have their own book which they can work from and add to as they find more exciting recipes and get older it will be a keepsake they will cherish.

They will be able to share their Cooking Activities Kids love to tell people all about new things that they have been taught.

Have fun taking photographs of each other whilst you are cooking together, the kids can make a cooking scrapbook, of the fun times that you have as a family in the kitchen, what a great way for them to keep the memories.

You can teach your child so many different skills when taking part in cooking activities kids, reading the recipe out loud and spelling can be done in a fun way that they can eat the words afterwards.

For example if you purchase a set of Alphabet Shaped Cookie Cutters they can make their favorite chocolate chip cookies and have a spelling test at the same time.

Cooking Activities kids for 3-6 Year Olds

Kids are never too young to take part in cooking activities in the kitchen, they can help you and learn at the same time.

Washing Fruit and Vegetables:-
Most children love to spend time at the sink or at the table with a bowl of water, so getting them to wash fruit and vegetables is a great way to get them to understand that foods have to be washed to remove any dirt, bugs and chemicals before we eat it.

But they will also be able to name the fruit and veg as they wash it, this will help them to identify produce when they have to buy it for themselves, I know adults that don’t know some of the simplest fruits and vegetables, so teaching your child at an early age about foods has great benefits.

Cleaning Tables and Work surfaces:-
Giving your child the responsibility of cleaning down the Tables and Work surfaces before and after they cook will give them an understanding of Kitchen Hygiene and also they will have respect for the kitchen even when they are not using it.

Give your child a small bowl of warm water with a sponge and detergent of your choice and make sure your child has some rubber gloves on as you would to protect their skin.

Rolling out Dough or Pastry:-
Once you have made the pastry or dough with your child allow them to take the Rolling Pin one of their own is ideal as it is the right size for their little hands, and roll out the pastry/dough, this not only give them a sense of achievement as they are grown up and cooking like you, but it will help them to concentrate as they need to roll out to where you have asked them to and it also gets the muscles in their arms working too.

This is one of the most popular cooking activities kids love to do.

Making Shapes with Cookie Cutters:-
This is the fun bit that all kids love to do, once the dough has been rolled out let your child choose which cookie cutters they would like to use, there are so many different types of cookie cutter about.

Plastic are the most popular for small children as they are safe and bright colored so your child will be able to learn about color and shape when using them and then enjoy eating the cookies after.

And remember to add the recipe to your
Kids Recipe Book.

Helping to Prepare Salad:-
You may not think so but can help to prepare a salad, of course they can’t cut anything but they can wash a lettuce and tear the leaves into large and small pieces this will teach them about size and also using different types of lettuce will also teach them about produce once again.

Once you have prepared all the other salad ingredients allow your child to place them into a bowl with the lettuce, they will love to serve it to the rest of the family and will no doubt eat some too as they have prepared it.

Cooking Activities kids for 6-10 Year Olds

Using Measuring Cups with Dry and Liquid Ingredients:-
This will enable your child to understand that when you are cooking the measurements of the ingredients need to be accurate, this is great for both Math and Science.

Reading Recipes:-
Whenever you are cooking with your child allow them to read the recipes out aloud to you, this will help with their reading skills and they will enjoy doing this with you and may not even realise that they are learning new words.

Writing Shopping Lists:-
Asking your child to write down the items that you need to buy when you are looking to cook something together, is a great way of allow them to practice their writing skills you are also teaching them about organization, there is nothing worse than going to the supermarket doing your shop and coming home to find that you have forgotten some ingredients.

Stirring Ingredients in a bowl:-
Many parents prefer to do this for their child as it can be less messy, quicker and the bowl goes all over the place… well it doesn’t have to be that way,

The Mess is all part of the fun, why would you want to rush the quality time you are spending with your child, and the easy thing to stop the bowl going all over the place is get a bowl and wooden spoon that is large enough for you little one and place a T-Towel under the bowl to stop it slipping.

Using a Blunt Knife to Chop soft Fruits and Spread Butter/Jam:-
As your child spends time with you in the kitchen they will watch you chopping fruits and vegetables with a knife and spreading butter, jams etc on bread or toast and often ask if they can have ago.

At some point you will have to allow them to have a go and the best way to do that at this age is to allow them to chop up some soft fruits,Banana or Kiwi for example with a blunt butter knife or a plastic one if you prefer and the same with buttering bread or toast.

Setting the Dinner Table:-
Giving your child the responsibility of setting the Dinner table in the evening is another great way of teaching them about organisation, who will sit where if it is a dinner party with extra guests allow them to write name cards to put on the table, it will teach your child about how a place setting should be set, with starter cutlery on the outside of the main course cutlery and the dessert spoon and fork go at the top of the place mat, with the fork following in the direction of the main forks.

Cooking Activities kids for 10-13 Year Olds

Prepare Simple Recipes:-
Following step by step instructions your child should be able to prepare simple recipes under the watchful eye of an adult, allowing them to do this will give them confidence and the self esteem to experiment in the kitchen when they become adults.

Using a Microwave,Oven and Stove:-
Allowing your kids to use the Microwave, oven and stove will help them have an understanding of temperature, teaching them the basics like boiling an egg, heating up beans or soup and placing or removing cakes from the oven will teach them not to be afraid of the equipment in the kitchen. But they may only do this whilst under your supervision..

You may think that these are cooking activities kids should be doing, but it is not always about fun in the kitchen, making cakes and eating them..

Using a Sharp Knife:-
Teach your child to respect the equipment that they are using, make them understand that they may only use a knife when they have an adult around to supervise them. Allow your child to use a sharper knife when cutting vegetables and fruit and slicing meats, make sure you have shown them the correct way to use the knife.

Many children now a days have the use of a computer and many use it to research things for school projects and of course chat to their friends. The thing is they could also use the internet to look for recipes to create their own kids recipe book and even cooking E-books are also available too.

They could also find cooking activities kids of their age in other countries do and share their knowledge with each other.

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Cooking Activities Kids Love to do
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