Introducing kids to the kitchen can be a great way to bond as a family, build practical life skills, and creativity. Personally, my kids love helping in the kitchen- it builds their skills, and my patience!
Cooking with kids is an opportunity to teach them about nutrition, math, cleanliness and teamwork. By finding safe and age-appropriate tasks, you can make the kitchen a fun and educational space for your little ones. Here are five ways to let young kids be involved in the kitchen.
Let kids help with prep tasks to be involved in the kitchen
Even toddlers can participate in simple food preparation. Tasks like washing fruits and vegetables, tearing lettuce for salads, or stirring ingredients in a bowl are perfect for small hands. For children aged 3-5, you can introduce safe tools like a plastic knife for cutting soft foods (bananas, strawberries, or cucumbers). This builds their confidence and motor skills, while also teaching them the importance of helping with meals. I have a kid-safe kitchen set that I am linking (pictured below) that has served my kids well and is very inexpensive (under $20).
Tips:
-Use kids-safe utensils
-Set up a safe space at the table or counter where they can work near you
-Allow them to choose which foods to wash or prep, providing them with choice but with limitations.
Make it a sensory experience for kids
Young children are naturally curious and love using their senses to explore the world. Cooking offers a perfect sensory experience, from the feel of dough to the smell of spices and the sound of food sizzling. You can encourage kids to touch ingredients, smell herbs, or listen to the sound of chopping or blending. Letting them pour, mix, or feel different textures makes them more engaged.
Tips:
- Ask questions – ‘what does it smell like?’ or ‘how does this feel?’
- Let them use their hands to squish or mold dough, meatballs, or form shapes with cookie cutters.
- Be patient with the mess – you will most likely run into spills (I, personally, struggle with this one!!)
Involve them with measuring and counting – real life math skills
Cooking and baking are great ways to introduce early math-counting, measuring, and comparing. Let your kids measure ingredients, count out scoops of flour or sugar, and help you set timers. Older kids can even learn about fractions through measuring cups and spoons.
Tips:
- provide clear measuring spoons and cups
- turn measuring into a game by challenging them to guess how many scoops they need, or counting together as they pour o
- Encourage older kids to help with timing- setting a kitchen timer, or telling you how much 20 minutes would be on a clock.
Let kids pick ingredients and help plan meals to be more involved in the kitchen
Kids love to feel empowered, and involving them in choosing ingredients for meals is a great way to spark their creativity. You can give them options for dinner and ask them to pick the side dish, or let them decide what kind of pizza toppings or salad ingredients to use. This helps children feel like an important part of the meal-making process and encourages them to be more adventurous with food.
Try our ‘go to Favorite meals’ printable worksheet to complete as a family! This will help your kids feel like they are heard and have a choice. Plus, it will help make meal planning much quicker when you don’t know what to cook!
Tips:
- offer two or 3 choices so they don’t feel overwhelmed, but still have control
- use trips to the store as a learning opportunity – teach them what fruits and veggies are in season, how to weigh out the produce, and teaching them how to tell things are ripe.
- Encourage kids to try new foods by making it fun – call it a ‘taste test’ and put the foods in fun cups or blindfold them.
Create a kid-friendly cooking area
If you want to get your child involved in the kitchen regularly, set up a dedicated space where they can safely participate. A step stool or learning tower allows them to reach the counter safely. You could also have a designated “kids’ cooking drawer” filled with safe utensils and tools just for them. My kids have a small children’s table that I allow them to help crack eggs, measure or chop veggies. A learning tower would be great if your kitchen allows for it space-wise- I like this kids stool one because it is plastic and easy to wipe-down plus foldable so can take up less space. Many of these stools are $80+ so this one is more affordable too.
Tips:
- organize a small area of the kitchen for them to work- including child-safe utensils
- give them ownership of their space by letting them choose tools they like at the store
- make safety a priority by teaching them about hot surface, sharp objects, not putting a towel on top of the stove, etc.
Kid-friendly recipes
I have a few different simple recipes that my own kids enjoy. Hank (4) and Hope (2) can both help with these things:
Scrambled eggs – let the kids learn to crack the eggs, stir and measure out milk & seasonings
Easy Homemade Pizza Lunchables – they can help shred cheese, dice up protein, spread pizza sauce and- and they will love the end product!
Walking tacos – kids can pick out the veggies to include for the tacos, wash, and cut them
Swedish Meatballs Recipe – kids LOVE making meatball patties – just be sure to teach them about raw meat cleanliness!
Ice cream in a bag – I have done this with my kiddos and they LOVE it!
Wacky Cake – this is a cake recipe that Hank requests often. It is very kid-friendly, simple, cake. There is also a science aspect of this recipe – the vinegar and baking soda mix! You could turn this into a learning experience by setting aside some extra vinegar and baking soda to experiment with.
- pro tip: start a new tradition! Instead of purchasing a fancy cake for your childs birthday- try making it into a one-on-one experience! Every year- make a cake together! (or instead, make the cake with siblings). This could be a fun, new, memory and family tradition. Hank loves to make Wacky Cake with his grandma! Plus, it will save you money!
Children’s Recipe Book
I would love to write my own kids recipe book, but until then, I would recommend this kids recipe book from Five Mary’s Farm.
If you’re looking for recipes your whole family will enjoy – think about our e-book ‘collection of family recipes’ – freezer friendly. We will also ship you our physical copy of our family favorites cookbook!
Bonus way to explore the kitchen – outside!
Create a mud kitchen for your kids! My father-in-law made a mud kitchen for my kids this summer and they spend hours out there coming up with creations. He made it out of old wooden pallets and a metal basin we had laying around.
I went to the thrift store or garage sales to find very inexpensive (or free) kitchen tools. Plus, Hank loved going to garage sales to add a new utensil to his collection.
- he is currently loving making mud pizzas, mud muffins and cut out mud cookies.
- Don’t have time, or know how, to make one? Here is a simple mud kitchen that would work perfectly.
Final Thoughts
Getting young kids involved in the kitchen may take a little extra time and patience, but the rewards are worth it. Not only will they develop valuable skills, but you’ll also be creating special memories together. By making the kitchen a fun, safe, and welcoming place for your children, you’ll help foster a love for food, family, and learning that will last a lifetime.
Let me know how it goes! – Bobbi Jo
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