Kids are capable of so much! Accept a few messes and pick the right recipes and you really can keep your kids busy and get help with cooking. That’s why we put together this list of cooking activities for preschoolers and beyond.
No need for fancy lesson plans or equipment! You’ll just need a few pieces of equipment, a pair of eager hands, a recipe, and an appetite.
Better yet, these cooking activities for preschoolers help with development, including fine and gross motor skills.
Ready to get some help in the kitchen? Download the Kitchen Helper Sticker Chart and get 5 kid-friendly recipes that you can use to practice all of these skills!
6 Easy Ways to Keep your Kids Busy (And Get Help) While Cooking
At a glimpse:
Peel
Peeling is a great task for younger kiddos because it’s fairly contained and doesn’t have as much “mess” potential.
Ideas for things to peel:
- Bananas
- Corn
- Clementines
- Oranges
- Hard boiled egg
Note: I don’t recommend actually using a peeler until kids are about 6 or 7 years old. I can tell you from experience that it’s a surprisingly dangerous tool!
Use it as a chance to teach about:
- Sorting (food bowl and garbage bowl)
- The parts of food we eat
- Composting the other parts (We love this video on the subject)
Good for: bilateral coordination and pincer grasping
Mash
Mashing is one of those activities that you can’t really mess up. The worst that happens is that you, as the parent, have to swoop in and finish it off,
Ideas for things to mash:
- Bananas
- Baked or steamed sweet potatoes
- Baked or steamed potatoes
- Steamed cauliflower
- Avocado
Use it as a chance to teach about:
- Different consistencies
- The changing shape of things (solid vs liquid)
Good for: Improves grip, hand, and finger strength as well as bilateral coordination skills
Mix
Mixing is one of the easiest and most versatile ways to get your kids helping in the kitchen. Start with just dry ingredients then move onto mixing together liquids and dry ingredients or more complex tasks like beating eggs with a whisk.
Ideas for things to mix:
- The dry ingredients for baked goods
- Oatmeal with water (before cooking)
- The wet and dry ingredients for baked goods
- Beating eggs
Use it as a chance to teach about:
- Why it’s important to mix
- How to mix effectively
- Using strong muscles for better mixing
Good for: Arm muscle development
Smash
Smashing (not to be confused with mashing) is a loud task, but that’s what makes it fun! I recommend grabbing any heavy (but small enough to be safe) kitchen utensil and breaking up someing hard in a Ziploc bag into smaller pieces.
In the video, we used a really small cast iron pan and chocolate pieces. Just be sure to help your little helper keep their fingers (and your countertop) safe.
I highly recommend using a cutting board as the smashing surface or doing it directly on the floor.
Ideas for things to smash: Anything hard you want broken into smaller pieces. Put it in a Ziploc bag first and then smash away.
- Chocolate
- Nuts
Use it as a chance to teach about:
- Keeping your fingers out of the way
- Using force to break things up
- Recognizing sizes of things (going from big to small)
Good for: Develops strength in hands and fingers
Stem
Taking the stems off of things might seem pretty straightforward, but it actually takes a lot of concentration (which means more time being kept busy) and good hand-eye coordination,
Ideas for things to stem:
- Strawberries
- Cherries
- Carrots
- Tomatoes on the vine
- Blueberries (especially if you picked them)
- Grapes
- Mint (to snip)
Use it as a chance to teach about:
- The parts of food that we do and don’t eat
- Concentration and patience
Good for: Fine motor skills
Snip
Kids’ kitchen scissors make such a great school for roughly chopping up things like herbs.
Ideas for things to snip:
- Cilantro
- Parsley
- Chives
- Mint off the stem
Use it as a chance to teach about:
- Cutting with scissors carefully
- Snipping things into even pieces
- The parts of the herb that you use
Good for: Scissor skills (Read more manipulating scissors relies on many underlying skills, including fine motor, gross motor and visual perceptual skills here)
Put the Cooking Activities for Preschoolers to Use
Ready to get cooking with your tiny helper? Or at least have them keep busy and develop some skills while you cook?
Here are some great recipes to get started with:
- Healthy Muffins that Actually Taste Good (Mix)
- Banana Bread Granola (Mash, Mix, Smash)
- Easy and Healthy Nacho Salad (Snip and Stem the cilantro)
Want more? We’ve created a cheatsheet that contains Kitchen Helper Sticker Chart and get 5 kid-friendly recipes to help you put these cooking activities for preschoolers to use. Sign-up for our email list and we’ll send it your way.
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