20 Ways to Cook with Kids

Need ideas on how to get your kids involved in cooking? Here are 20 ways to cook with your kids!

Kids Cooking Activities Teaching Materials

Make teaching easier with our activities and recipes compiled in theme sets and books with an easy to read format

Perfect for teaching!

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Start with the Cooking Basics for Kids

1. Measure It

Teaching kids to measure accurately is an important step in them learning how to bake. We cover how and ways to teach this technique in our kids cooking lesson manual.

2. Pour It

Whether it is pouring in liquid ingredients or making Popsicles, learning to pour accurately will come in handy when cooking.

3. Stir It In

Stirring ingredients is a basic cooking skill children can learn while they are young. If you get them involved while they are young, this is always a good task for them. Any recipe will do that involves mixing with a large spoon.

4. Kitchen Prep

Teaching kids that there is more than just jumping into a recipe will help them develop better-thinking skills. Start by finding a recipe and reading it through with them. Talk about what you need to prepare before starting. What kitchen utensils will you need to use? What ingredients do you need and do you have all of them on hand?

5. Meal Plan

Children need to learn what is involved in preparing meals not just being served. Here are some tips and ideas on meal planning.

6. Wash and Prep

Having a sous chef help beside you to wash and prep any vegetables and other ingredients will give them more hands-on experience with certain ingredients they may not want to eat.  If you give them a chance to work with them and they may be more likely to try them.

Make Cooking Fun for Kids

7. Competition

Take cooking meals and recipes up a notion with experienced chefs by having an iron chef challenge. Just like the show pick 4 ingredients and place them in a basket or box. Children create their recipe. Another similar competition could be trying our ingredient challenge.

8. Something New

Take a trip to the grocery store with your children and have them pick a new fruit, vegetable or food product to incorporate into a recipe.

9. Mini Size It

Try making meals mini size. Think tea party size, sliders, etc.

10. Shape it Up 

Kids love working with bread dough. A favorite lesson of mine is to give them a batch of bread dough and let them decide what to create out of it. Here is a homemade bread dough recipe.

11. Create your Own Recipe Book

Experiment and have kids create their own personal recipe book.

12. Fun with Food

Pick a different theme and make food fun.  It could be an animal theme, shape or color. Here are some of our fun with food and theme ideas.

13. Drink It

Making homemade beverages can be an easy way to get kids involved in cooking. Try smoothies, fun drinks, "tea party drinks", milkshakes, etc.

14. Eat a Rainbow

Create a meal with all the rainbow colors. Need some rainbow food ideas?

Teach Kids to Cook Homemade

15. Make it Homemade

Make something you eat often and store bought into a homemade version. Maybe a recipe for applesauce, yogurt,  bread, or fruit leather.

16. Recreate It

Pick a favorite food product and make it from scratch, i.e. cheese crackers, Lunchables, Gatorade

17. Make Homemade Fast Food

Homemade pizza or homemade corn dogs could fit well in this category.

18. Make Homemade Pasta

A favorite recipe for kids to make who love to work with dough.  Homemade pasta can be shaped into whatever they'd like, cooked and eaten up!

19. Make Homemade Butter

Kids can't usually believe you can make your own homemade butter. It is easy to do but will require some muscle work. Or try homemade almond butter, apple butter or peanut butter.

20. Box it Up

Make a boxed meal into a homemade version. Try macaroni and cheese or Hamburger Helper

Teach Kids Cooking Classes

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