Cooking with a Toddler

Last week I shared some ideas for how I get my toddler to be a helper. Rather than share a new recipe, I decided to give you some more cooking related tips to get you cooking while entertaining and teaching your toddler!

At the counter activities

1. Let your toddler add ingredients.

I had a lot of success letting Ellie add blueberries to the muffins we were making last week. The recipe did not call for blueberries, but I thought it would be fun to let her help. The blueberries were also an ingredient that I did not have to worry about her eating while she helped. I added a learning component because I taught her how to drop the blueberries into the batter. At first she was putting them in by dipping her whole hand in the muffin cups. This was messy, and I didn’t want her to lick her hands because there was raw egg in the ingredients. I showed her one time how to “drop” the blueberries in from right above the batter. She loved it and enjoyed saying, “drop” each time she added a blueberry. We also counted how many blueberries we put in each muffin cup. Leading me to my next tip…

2. Count ingredients

Many recipes call for multiple cups or teaspoons of an ingredient. I have found that if a recipe calls for one cup of something, you can use a smaller sized cup (say 1/4 cup) and then count 4 scoops of that ingredient. If you have older kids this would be a great way to practice fractions. Just count everything that goes in the bowl!

3. Play with flour

Flour is really fun to play with. Messy, but fun. This is a great activity to keep your helper occupied while you cook. Cater your flour play to the age of your child. Ellie is 21 months, so I showed her how to make swirls with her fingers and to pinch small bits of flour in her finger and put it into cups. I also taught her how to use a spoon or measuring spoon to scoop from one cup to another. Her favorite is dumping a cup of flour either into another cup or on the counter. If your child is older you can practice forming letters, writing in cursive, or just drawing in the flour.

4. Practice colors

If you are cooking a recipe with an assortment of fruits and vegetables, have your child identify the colors of the ingredients as you chop or add them to your dish.

In the kitchen or on the floor activities

5. Let your child have a picnic

This is a fun opportunity to eat at the floor rather than at the table. I usually lay out a towel or blanket so that Ellie knows where she needs to sit and stay while she is eating.

6. Let your kid make a mess

I rearranged the bottoms shelves of one cabinet with things that Ellie can touch. Mostly tupperware that is easily put back after Ellie makes a mess. She also has fun stacking and playing with dixie cups. I found a great pack of cups with animals on them, so we practice our animals while she plays with the cups. She also had some fun taking all the zip lock bags out of the box. It was a pain to clean up after, but she had a lot of fun. I also have a bookshelf with toys and my discovery bottles that is right in the kitchen to keep her occupied.

7. Put kid friendly magnets on the fridge

Ellie loves taking magnets off and putting them back on the fridge. Now that she is a little older I need to get her letter magnets. That would be a great way to practice colors and start identifying letters.

8. Let them throw away scraps

When I’m using knives I don’t like to have Ellie help me at the counter. So I came up with a fun game to keep her occupied. I put a scrap or a peel on the edge of the counter and let her reach up high to get it and put it in the trash. She loves putting things in the trash so it keeps her occupied.

I hope you enjoyed these cooking specific tips and I’d love to hear if any of them worked for you and helped you get dinner on the table with a happy toddler in tow!