Cooking with young children is a great way to nurture a love of food, and encourage them to discover and try new tastes and textures. You’ll find little foodies are much more likely to be adventurous if they’ve played a part in making the food.
Hillary’s top tips to get toddlers busy in the kitchen
- A little preparation can help things go smoothly. Talk about the recipe and then divide up the jobs so everyone has something important, fun and age-appropriate to do.
- Remember that simple jobs are often the most fun for little ones. Put children in charge of finding ingredients or cooking utensils, rinsing vegetables, mashing potatoes, squeezing lemons and sprinkling herbs and spices.
- Taste along the way. Trying new flavours and ingredients will keep enthusiasm and energy levels high, and encourage children to eat the finished product.
- Celebrate when children learn a new skill. Our Little Chef's Skills Chart can help.
- Relax and have fun. It may get a bit messy but give little ones plenty of freedom to be creative. It's the best way to make sure they enjoy cooking and want to help out.
