Cooking with kids provides great opportunities to not only reinforce math and science skills, but also to encourage them to take a vested interest in the foods that they eat. When kids are part of the food preparation process, they are more likely to eat the foods they prepare. Whether you’re looking to expand your child’s palate or teach him how food gets to their plate, cooking together provides a natural opportunity to bond over something you both likely love, good eats.
Bountiful Breakfasts
Weekday mornings are notoriously busy, and getting breakfast on the table can seem almost laughable at times. Instead of relying on sugary cereals or frozen entrees, come up with a list of foods your kids can easily prepare. Not sure where to start? Use these 20 ideas as inspiration.
Yogurt Parfait. By keeping a bowl of cut up fruit and yogurt handy your kids can layer this parfait all by themselves, says School Family Education.
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins. Simple recipes, like the ones on School Family, that can be mixed together and baked will encourage your child to become a budding cook.
Very Berry Smoothie. Kids can throw some fruit and yogurt into a blender and mix it up for a fresh smoothie anytime, according to Parentables.
Egg-In-A-Hole Lemon Ricotta Toasts. Turntable Kitchen has created a twist on the classic egg-in-a-hole dish by amping it up with ricotta and baking it in the oven.
Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole. Kids Cooking explains how simple it is to layer the ingredients into a baking dish and create this impressive dish.
Hot Cinnamon Toast. She Knows suggests letting your kids try this recipe, though they probably will need a little supervision for the oven part.
5-Minute Egg Breakfast Sandwiches. Kiddy Cook explains how your child can microwave an egg and toast an English muffin for a quick breakfast option.
Baked Apple Gingerbread Pancake. Simple Bites encourages you to get your kids in the kitchen to make this baked pancake.
Slow Cooker Bread Pudding. Nourishing Joy points out that this slow cooker recipe is simple to prepare the night before so you can wake up to a hot breakfast in the morning.
Cinnamon Roll Baked Oatmeal. Lynn’s Kitchen details this simple, tasty recipe kids are sure to love.
Crock Pot Granola. Stacy Makes Cents explains a method of cooking granola that makes it less likely to burn. Mix a few ingredients together and stir in the crock pot every half an hour.
Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits. Cooking Light offers several healthy breakfast recipes for kids to try, like these biscuits.
Sunrise Tacos. Let the kids build these funny sun tacos using breakfast ingredients found on Betty Crocker.
Healthy Pancakes. Whip up some whole wheat pancakes with the kids using the recipe and directions found on Delish.
Breakfast Cookies. Martha Stewart explains that these cookies are full of healthy ingredients and work perfectly for a breakfast on-the-go.
Bagel Gone Bananas. Eating Well suggests a simple bagel spread with peanut butter and sliced bananas that kids can make for themselves.
Breakfast Skewers. If you blunt the sharp points, even younger children can thread cheese, turkey, fruit and egg onto a skewer, according to Spoonful.
Peanut Butter and Banana French Toast. This recipe from Allrecipes is so simple that kids can help make it.
Breakfast on a Stick. Get the young kids in on making breakfast by letting them thread French toast squares and blackberries onto chopsticks, recommends Super Healthy Kids.
Breakfast Pizza. Kids may need some help with the egg portion if they are young; Food Network shows how they can pile ingredients onto an English muffin to be baked.
Lovely Lunches
Instead of waiting until the morning to throw together a lunch, why not get in the kitchen the night before to assemble some tasty options that go outside the typical PB&J? Wrangle up the kids and check out these 20 lunchtime ideas that are anything but boring.
Peanut Noodles with Chicken. Real Simple shares a recipe that uses hot tap water to cook rice noodles and a potato peeler to create ribbons of veggies.
Turkey Sushi Wrap. Babble explains how your child can whip up this simple faux sushi by using a tortilla.
Quesadilla. Parenting points out how simple and healthy quesadillas can be a great way to build fiber and protein into a meal.
Mini Pizza Bagels. Kraft suggests this simple lunch idea that kids can make themselves.
Bento Boxes. Mom Me explains how to put together a bento box with a variety of healthy foods.
Turkey, Cheese and Crackers. Recreate those expensive lunchables at home by prepping some meat and cheese for your child to make up their own, suggests Chef Mom.
Super Heroes. Martha Stewart gives several options on how a kid can build his own hero sandwich.
Meatball Shish Kabobs. Wellness Mama keeps meatballs on hand to make it easy for the kids to help skewer them with veggies and bake them.
Strawberry Brazil Nut Salad. Parade explains how simple it is for kids to whip this salad up for lunch or to go with dinner.
Turkey Roll-Ups. Read this story from Chicago Tribune on how three kids helped each other put together healthy lunches.
Fajitas. BBC Good Food explains how kids can help make tasty fajitas with a little help from an adult.
Cheese and Zucchini Scones. Kidspot demonstrates how simple these scones are to make.
PB&J Bites. Pillsbury describes how to make these little bites and writes that they can be eaten at any meal, or even as a dessert.
Ham and Cheese Quiche. Kids Cooking Activities shares the directions for this versatile recipe that can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Pizzadillas with Red Sauce. Kids can put these pizzadillas together with some help, according to Kids Health.
Lunch Box Pizzas. Kids can make these bite-sized pizzas using mini muffin tins, explains Taste of Home. Adults may need to help with the oven part.
Baby Bam Burgers. Emerils offers a detailed recipe so kids can make these slider-sized burgers with just a little supervision.
Spanakofootballs. Education makes a play on words when creating this variation on spanakopita.
Lunch Combos. Sobeys offers a list of lunches that kids can put together for themselves.
Homemade Chicken Fingers. Baker’s Dozen put together clear instructions for how kids can make these tasty chicken fingers at home.
Sensational Snacks
Don’t let snack time turn into junk food time – this is the perfect opportunity for you to get your kids to eat some fruits or veggies. There are so many snack ideas in these 20 blogs that you may even find yourself making some of them!
Yummy Yogurt Biscuits. Disney Family suggests getting kids involved in the kitchen in a number of ways, and shares this recipe for biscuits as one option.
Ants on a Log. This classic recipe is simple for young children to make, explains Cozi, because there’s no cooking involved.
Chocolate Dipped Fruit. iVillage has several suggestions, but this snack is something even very small children could do on their own.
Simple Blender Recipe. Canadian Living shows a bunch of snack recipes that kids can make on their own, including three smoothie recipes.
Fun Kid Snack. Snack Picks has tons of cute ideas for snacks, but none cuter than meat and crackers shaped like a monkey.
Trail Mix. Motherhood Modern Mom recommends letting the kids make trail mix because there’s no cooking involved and each kid can choose the food he likes.
Strawberry Fruit Leather. Make and Takes explain how you can use simple ingredients and the sun to make fruit leather.
Turkey Roll-ups. Kids can spread cream cheese on a tortilla, add turkey and tomato and then roll them up explains Skinny Ms.
Cabbage and Peanut Butter Hors d’Oeurves. Encourage the kids to eat their veggies with these tasty snacks by Hubpages.
Curiously Crunchy Cold Bananas. Healthy Snacks for Kids suggests rolling a banana in yogurt and puffed rice cereal before freezing it for a healthy snack.
Cheese Quesadillas. Let the kids put cheese between two tortillas and microwave until the cheese is melted for an easy snack, says Blog with Mom.
Nachos. Spark People has several snack suggestions like these simple nachos.
Eat the Bowl Dip. Parent Society has the ingenious idea of filling a bell pepper shell with dip so the kids can eat the dip with tortilla chips and then eat the “bowl” too.
Traditional Hummus. The kids can help you whip up this nutritious dip by 100 Days of Real Food by using canned chick peas.
Fruit and Cheese Kabobs. You can use chopsticks for younger children and let them thread fruit and cheese onto a stick to enjoy this healthy snack from Organizing Made Fun.
Apples Dipped in Peanut Butter. Kids can dip apples into peanut butter and then into raisins or nuts, suggests Skinny Mom.
Pita Pizza. Kids love pizza and can use a whole wheat pita, pizza sauce, pepperoni and cheese to create this pizza snack from The Stir.
Apple Nachos. Bunch Family explains this unique take on nachos by using sliced apples, peanut butter and nuts.
Flavored Popcorn. Let the kids pop the popcorn in the microwave and then mix up one of the topping choices suggested by Stonyfield.
Homemade Apple Sauce. Keeper of the Home explains how to get the kids involved with canning some homemade apple sauce for a tasty snack all winter long.
Divine Dinners
It sounds too good to be true, and almost a little scary – having the kids prepare dinner for you. However, it’s possible for the kids to get a delicious dinner on the table with the help of these 20 recipe ideas.
Crock Pot Lasagna. All Boy Homeschool explains this simple, safe crockpot recipe that the kids can prepare.
Green Spaghetti. Moms Who Think came up with this clever recipe using pesto to make the spaghetti an entertaining green color.
Tortellini Casserole. Parents says this recipe is better than mac and cheese, but with the same appeal for kids.
Sesame Fish Sticks. William-Sonoma provides kid-friendly instructions to make these kid favorites at home.
Rotini Taco Bake. Make Dinner Easy offers this recipe that combines tacos and pasta into a simple casserole.
Tuna Fish Cakes. Food 24 has come up with a variation on the crab cake that uses inexpensive canned tuna that the kids can mix together and form into patties.
Kid (and Mom) Friendly Macaroni Casserole. This recipe from Cooks uses a box of mac and cheese as a starter to make it simple.
Cheese Volcano Meatballs. Kraft Canada has created this kid appropriate recipe complete with simple directions and step-by-step pictures.
Cheese and Spinach Tart with Glazed Carrots. Healthy Eating believes it’s important to get the kids in the kitchen, so they’ve come up with tons of recipes like this one for the kids.
French Bread Pizza. To simplify, Grandparents suggests starting with a loaf of French bread split for the pizzas that the kids can top and bake.
Rainbow Vegetable Flan. GNOWFGLINS makes this dish with her daughter during her cooking class to teach her basic cooking techniques.
Dutch Oven Spinach Rice Casserole. This scout recipe can be made over a campfire or on the stove at home and is full of healthy ingredients, says Scouter Mom.
Crock Pot Chicken for “Greek Gods”. Healthy Recipes for Kids came up with this exciting name to entice the kids to make the dish.
Mama’s Chicken and Rice. Kids A Cookin’ explains this recipe that cooks in one pan and was created with kids in mind.
Mexican Mac and Cheese. Making Learning Fun has a creative way to dress up a box of mac and cheese that the kids can help make.
Butternut Squash Carbonara Pasta Recipe. Momtastic has used seasonal vegetables to dress up this pasta dish with the kids.
Sloppy Joes. Campbell’s Kitchen has a bunch of simple weeknight meals that the kids can help with, like this kid favorite.
Tacos. Recipes suggests this kid favorite to let your teen make by himself. He could even add a simple salad to make it a complete meal.
Chicken Flautas. Country Living describes this as a simple, kid-friendly recipe.
Chicken Stir-fry. Good to Know explains how kids ages 12 and up can pretty much make this dish unsupervised once they know how.
Decadent Desserts
Looking for a sweet treat to end the day? Your kids probably are, too. Instead of pulling out a container of ice cream, send them to the kitchen to create one of these 20 dessert ideas.
Rice Crispy Treats. My Taste shares this classic recipe that kids can make and share with the family.
Two Ingredient Pumpkin Spice Cookie. Start with a cake mix and let the kids whip up these simple cookies from Jasey Crazy Daisy.
Soft and Chewy Chocolate Candy. Yummy Smells shares tips on how to make homemade tootsie rolls with the kids.
Candy Corn White Chocolate Pretzels. These yummy treats by Alida’s Kitchen are simple to let the kids assemble and make.
White Chocolate Candy Cane Fudge. Rants from My Crazy Kitchen explains the steps for this simple candy that the kids can whip up for the holidays.
No Bake Pumpkin Pie in Ice Cream Cones. This kid-friendly recipe from La Jolla Mom skips the difficult pie crust and uses something kids love: ice cream cones!
Simple Shortbread. Student Recipes explains this cookie recipe in a way that kids can understand.
No Bake Peanut Butter Pie. One Ordinary Day explains how to make this decadent pie that doesn’t require baking.
Muddy Buddies. This dessert from Six Sister’s Stuff is also called Puppy Chow and consists of cereal, chocolate, powdered sugar and a few other ingredients.
Baked Apples. Not only is this dessert quick and tasty, but it’s fairly healthy too, says Oprah.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Fudge. Sally’s Baking Addiction explains how simple this fudge is to make, but you may need to supervise the stovetop portion.
Banana Boat. This camping staple from Love the Outdoors can be made on a home grill or in the microwave without the foil.
Yummy Chocolate Truffles. Canadian Family shares a recipe for chocolate truffles and explains how simple they are to make.
Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Cup. Number 2 Pencil has a bunch of mug recipes that are quick to make, don’t use a ton of ingredients and are perfect for kids.
Cereal and Milk Popsicles. The Little Foodie had a break through thought when she decided to make breakfast into a Popsicle.
Icebox Cake. Yum Sugar points out that there’s no cake in this dessert; it’s all a matter of assembly and leaving it in the fridge.
Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Popsicles. All Day I Dream About Food raves about these delicious, easy-to-make treats.
Easy Marbled Chocolate Pots. All About You explains how to make this three ingredient recipe.
Award Winning Chocolate Chunk Brownies. This brownie won ‘best of show’ on Queen of the Red Double Wide.
Strawberry Trifle. Mr. Food uses a store bought pound cake and layers it in a pretty trifle dish with instant vanilla pudding and whipped topping. Simple enough for the kids to make, but fancy enough that everyone will be impressed.