Getting your children involved in the kitchen provides many great benefits. For one, it can help them develop a healthy relationship with food. Additionally, kitchen activities for kids allow them to learn to prepare food and practice many useful skills, such as counting, measuring, learning about textures, colors, flavors, and understanding all the important things food provides. These kitchen activities for kids will help you introduce your children to cooking while having fun and being safe!
Kitchen Activities for Kids:
1. Chop Food
Crinkle cutters are the perfect way to introduce young children to chopping food. They are safe to use, but you should always supervise your children while they are using this tool. Set your child with a cutting board, show them how the crinkle cutter works, and then get them started with soft foods like melon, cucumbers, potatoes, etc.
2. Wash Fruits and Veggies
Washing produce is super easy and children will enjoy the different textures and playing with water. Show your child how to properly wash produce and give them a new sponge so they can get started. Check their work when they’re done and also encourage them to say the names of the veggies and fruits so they can practice their vocabulary.
3. Knead Dough
When you’re making bread dough or pizza dough, you want to include your children in the kneading process because it’s a lovely sensory activity they will greatly enjoy. Sit them next to you and give them a small piece of the dough so they can imitate your movements. They will have so much fun! Plus, you can teach them how to portion batter, which is a nice introduction to fractions.
4. Decorate with Frosting
If you’re baking a cake or a batch of cookies, you can ask your children to help you with the frosting. They can create their own designs using different colors and exercise their creativity in a different way than what they’re used to. They can use butter knives to spread the frosting and different sprinkles for decoration, or you can make them small piping bags with frosting in different colors so they can “paint” with them on the surface of the cake or cookie.
5. Put the Groceries Away
Whenever you buy groceries, get your children to help you put everything away. This will help them identify the different kinds of food and also learn where they go. Just be sure to make it clear that the food has to stay in the packages to avoid a mess. They will have fun with this and learn a lot in the process!
Any of these kitchen activities will help children become more comfortable with food and learn more about the different things you can do in the kitchen.
If your children are still too young to help you in the kitchen, you can teach them about food with the help of toys! For example, this Food Cutting Playset can help them learn the name of different foods and this Wooden Toy Salad Set will also help them identify healthy veggies.
Kitchen Activities for Kids:
1. Chop Food
Crinkle cutters are the perfect way to introduce young children to chopping food. They are safe to use, but you should always supervise your children while they are using this tool. Set your child with a cutting board, show them how the crinkle cutter works, and then get them started with soft foods like melon, cucumbers, potatoes, etc.
2. Wash Fruits and Veggies
Washing produce is super easy and children will enjoy the different textures and playing with water. Show your child how to properly wash produce and give them a new sponge so they can get started. Check their work when they’re done and also encourage them to say the names of the veggies and fruits so they can practice their vocabulary.
3. Knead Dough
When you’re making bread dough or pizza dough, you want to include your children in the kneading process because it’s a lovely sensory activity they will greatly enjoy. Sit them next to you and give them a small piece of the dough so they can imitate your movements. They will have so much fun! Plus, you can teach them how to portion batter, which is a nice introduction to fractions.
4. Decorate with Frosting
If you’re baking a cake or a batch of cookies, you can ask your children to help you with the frosting. They can create their own designs using different colors and exercise their creativity in a different way than what they’re used to. They can use butter knives to spread the frosting and different sprinkles for decoration, or you can make them small piping bags with frosting in different colors so they can “paint” with them on the surface of the cake or cookie.
5. Put the Groceries Away
Whenever you buy groceries, get your children to help you put everything away. This will help them identify the different kinds of food and also learn where they go. Just be sure to make it clear that the food has to stay in the packages to avoid a mess. They will have fun with this and learn a lot in the process!
Any of these kitchen activities will help children become more comfortable with food and learn more about the different things you can do in the kitchen.
If your children are still too young to help you in the kitchen, you can teach them about food with the help of toys! For example, this Food Cutting Playset can help them learn the name of different foods and this Wooden Toy Salad Set will also help them identify healthy veggies.