Cooking Activities

I think that he owld enjoy helping make cookies. They are easy to make and he could help with rolling them into a ball. I always liked that as a kid. My son likes helping with that too. He's 2 years old. If you use a microwave let him help push the buttons. That's just a s good as helping with the actual cooking.

Hi V., it's great to hear that your son wants to help you in the kitchen. My 3yr old begs me to cook dinner & if she can help me. I haven't done this yet, but I hear that the food network website has recipes for kids. For myself, I just let her help with anything that I have to do to cook - pouring, mixing, putting stuff in the trash, etc. I let her help with anything that doesn't involve a knife, mixers, or the stove, for safety reasons of course. But other than that, anything goes. She's so proud of herself when dinner is ready and boasts that "she" made dinner to daddy & sissy. I also make a point to tell her all of the ingredients, tools, & cooking methods as well as having her repeat them so her vocabulary & speech improves. It's gotten to the point that both her & her sister fight over who gets to help mom cook, so I make them take turns & she learns to share. Have a great time with your son & his culinary skills. Just keep lots of wipes around for the spills. HEHE :)

My 3 year old LOVES helping in the kitchen. He likes to pour the ingredients, crack & stir eggs, work the mixers, help make sandwiches & even help set the table. Have fun & enjoy the one on one time together!

I let my daughter help me mix things together.. Like i made a homestyle bake and she made the potatoes.. hehe

Good for you! As a preschool teacher I love seeing parents cook with their kids because it fosters self esteem, shows them that they can do their part in the family work (which sets the stage for helping pick up toys), teaches basic life skills, and encourages cognitive development and fine motor skills.

One of my favorites to make with kids is "pigs in a blanket". Get a package of hot dogs (you can use low fat) and a tube of ready to bake croissant dough. Help him seperate out the dough pieces and show him how to wrap the dough triangle around the hot dog and stick it on the baking pan. It doesn't have be perfect! Then bake in the oven according to croissant directions. A little green beans and applesauce or etc. and you have a meal.

Just as a general guideline, your child can help you with just about anything that doesn't bring him too close to the stove or other hot items, or a sharp knife. (Although be cautious with electric mixers as well!)

Also, baking is a wonderful activity for preschoolers because if nothing else you can measure out each ingredient and hand it to your child to dump into the mixing bowl. Give him a big spoon so he can play at hand stirring. Once the mixer is turned on, our rule for little people is: "Hands behind your back until the mixer is off." And of couse we talk about what could happen if we poked our finger in the bowl while it was going. And constant, constant supervision.

V.,
I try to let my son help out as much also. He started when he was 2 as well. I got most of my ideas from a MOPS meeting. (Mothers of Preschoolers) The presenter suggested using zip-lock bags to shake things and to mix things.

You could pour the ingredients for pancakes into a zip-lock bag and then let him squish it around until it is all mixed up. Then you would cut a small hole in a corner to pour out the contents and make pancakes.

Another idea is to put chicken pieces into a flour mixture to coat and then bake or fry.

She also suggested assembling the ingredients for pizza or tacos and letting your little one put what he/she wants on his or her own pizza/taco.

Children have a tendancy to at least try their creations.

I am looking forward to the other responses.

My daughter helps me with pancakes or making salad I pre cut things and she puts them together also if you make anything like buiscuts your son can put them or the cookie sheet pretty much a child can help with many things in food prep washing fruits or veg is also very big with my daughter and you can also buy those betty crocker bag of sugar cookies they are easy for kids to make then buy a can of frosting and sprinkles and let your son make dessert!!!! I hope this gave you some good ideas my daughter will be three in july and she loves to do this stuff!!!!!

There is a cook book for kids that I got for my daughter a couple of years ago, it is called Pretend Soup. It has instructions written out and also in pictures so that kids can make these things themselves. You can look for it on Half.com, they have a lot of books for not a lot of money *smile* And have fun!

My son now 4 loves cooking with us also, to the point he recieved a chef outfit. hat and all.
anyhoo, when baking i help him measure and he pours it in and stirs. he loves making french toast. he breaks the eggs and pours the milk and beats 2 gether. i found a kids cookbook at costco once, with picture directions. but i remember as a kid having a betty crocker kids cook book myself. try going online to foodtv for fun kids recipes, also. good luck and have fun cooking.

My 3 year old also loves to help me cook. I just let him do everyting except knife handling. :) He helps shake the seasons on, stir, pour, he makes rice, but his favorite is cookies!! You can buy "kid sized" cookware in the kids department at IKEA in West Sac. My son loves the rolling pin and the using the cookie cutters.

I have a 3 1/2 year old daughter and we have been cooking together since she was 2. There are not many recipes that they can't help you with it it's just about what you have them do. When I cook I let her help add in the ingredients that I measure and stir the dry ingredients to prepare it. We make eggs, cakes, cookies, waffles, sauces just name it and I find away for her to do some of the work. She is so proud of herself when we serve the meal that she helped prepare. She also loves watching Food Network with Mommy and actually has learned some basic recipes. Just find the easier things for him to do and have fun. (cooking with your son will help him learn all kinds of things)

Well my son is the same way LOVES to help me cook... pour things in stir, hold the mixer with me ect but he is 4 now but when he was 2 his favorite thing to do with me was make pizza I would buy the like jiffy dough mix that way he could help me knead the dough get his hands in there then he could also help me put toppings on very hands on and easy same thing with meatloaf he loves getting his hands in there and mixing it, mashing potatoes and egg salad, basically anything with fun prep...getting to beat the steak to tenderize it is always fun!!

I have a great suggestion. I have a two year old as well and we make muffins together. Either cornbread or banana muffins. So easy to get those little boxs of Jiffy muffin mix. You only need to add milk and an egg. He can actually poor things into the bowl and the funnest part is havign him try to use his spoon to put the mix in the muffin cups. Its kind of a quick recipe and is great for breakfast.

I have a 3 and 5 year old. One of their most favorite things to do is to make their own pizza. I get the ready made crusts or english muffins, pizza sauce, cheese, I cut veggies and make chicken. I put everything out on the table and they each make thier own!

I am a mother of two soon to be chefs my son is 6 and has thus far cooked 2 meals all by himself(with me standing there by his side) He made pancakes, eggs, and sausage, and then sloppy joes, My 2 yr old helps to she loves to stir pour milk put in sauce packs from mac and cheese or what ever else I also let her make pizza try it. Take english muffins put a little pasta sauce on tem then in bowls put out for him some cheese, ham, olives and what ever else he likes and let him have at it my kids love pizza night. It is also very good for there fine motor skills. Hope it helped

When my kids were younger they loved to make baked French toast with me. Because you make it the night before and store it in the fridge, they found it extra fun that they got to "cook" twice! And I took comfort in the fact that they were doing nothing that could get them burned!