I try to involve Little in my cooking activities. Apart from it being an opportunity to teach her to count, measure, and identify food, cooking encourages them to eat the food that we prepare. i also find it as an excellent bonding activity that usually calms her down during mornings — weekend or weekdays, because it gives her an opportunity to work with her hands!
here is a list of meals/drinks that you can prepare with your toddler. I know it is gonna be messy, but it is well worth the bonding time! I started ‘cooking’ with my little chef when she turned 2 i think, and these are the food/drinks that we have prepared so far:
1. Choco-chip pancakes — or any pancake recipe for that matter. She can mix in ingredients, as well as the batter. Sprinkle toppings and decorate the pancake tower
2. Fudge Brownies — She can mix in ingredients, as well as the batter. She can help in transferring the batter to the pan, and then sprinkle toppings before baking.
3. Choco Lollipops — She can help in mixing in melted chocolate and other ingredients like rice crispies or mallows. She can also help in sprinkling toppings, or decorating the lollies.
4. Iced Lollies — She can help in mixing the fruit juice, and in transferring the juice to the iced lollie containers
5. Scrambled eggs — she can help in beating the eggs, and in adding the milk etc
6. Strawberry or Banana Smoothies or any smoothie for that matter — She can help in putting in fruits, milk and yogut in the blender.
7. Pure, Freshly squeezed juices — We juice everyday for the family. Your toddler can help in removing leaves from the malunggay or spinach or any other leafy vegetable. she can also help in segregating the chopped up fruits in your bowls or colanders.
I will be updating this list as we try more and more recipes 🙂 happy cooking with your little chefs!
Till next post!
