When you are cooking together with your kids, things may seem challenging, but it’s a great way to introduce them to help in the kitchen. One great side effect of children helping to prepare meals is that they are more willing to try their own creations.
Getting started cooking together can be as simple as following these ideas:
Quesadillas
Have children add cheese, meats, salsa, and other toppings they like to a tortilla before having them fold it in half. If you have a toaster oven, it would be easy to have children add to the tortilla right on the toaster oven pan and then let them help slide it in.
English Muffin Pizzas
Using a toasted English muffin, have the children add sauce, cheese, and toppings of their choice. Again, this is a great meal that can be done in a toaster oven, but obviously, a regular oven will do the trick, too!
Monkey Bread
Using Pillsbury biscuits, or a similar type of biscuit, cut the biscuits in quarters using kitchen shears. Have the children help by allowing them to dip the dough into melted butter and then into a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Place the coated biscuit pieces in a Bundt pan (or really in any pan) and bake at 375 until golden.
Quick Bread and Muffins
Quick bread and muffins are super easy to make! There are many premixed varieties at the store, or you can make some from scratch – but either way, let the kids help stir! Muffins are easy to grab and pack to take to school or work. You can use an ice cream scoop to portion the batter into muffin cups. Using an ice cream scoop is also a great way to incorporate some fine motor skills!
Pre-made Rice & Noodle Packets
OK, hear me out on this one … Perhaps there is a lot of salt but there is a certain amount of success that naturally comes along with making these pre-made packets. For the rice packets, you could add half a cup of plain, uncooked rice along with an additional cup of water to cut down on the salt per portion. Allowing the kids to stir at the stove might be something you want to save when they are a bit older, but PreK kids could stir at the stove with supervision. Making something that everyone can enjoy is a great way to get children excited about cooking!
Baked Scrambled Eggs
Scrambled eggs are so easy to personalize for each person. Grease a muffin pan and pour your egg mixture into the muffin cups. Children can then add toppings such as bacon, ham, shredded potatoes, peppers, etc. These are great because after you bake them, you can freeze them until you need them! A great way to get a hot breakfast every day!
What are some other ideas you could incorporate to involve the children in cooking?
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