Cooking with your toddler

celiabwatson · July 2011

My son is fascinated by what I'm doing in the kitchen and wants me to hold him all the time while I cook and also to help. So, we got one of those kitchen helpers (our dining chairs are too tall and unsafe (not to mention upholstered). Now I'm able to have him at the counter with me and he can help.

I need some ideas of cooking projects etc that have steps that he can help with. Specifically I want things that involve minimal stove time since he wants to help with that too and can't so he gets frustrated. I also want stuff that if he ate it at any point in the process it would be ok. Reverse example: we made pancakes the other day and he loved stirring but kept trying to eat the batter, YUCK!

Any ideas?

anonsouthernbell · July 2011

I have my son help make things even pancakes. What I do is he helps me scoop, level it off and then pour the flour, baking soda, what have you into the bowl. He will then help me do this w/the wet ingredients. Then he gets to stir the dry ingredients, while I add the eggs and beat them. (I recently let him help crack the eggs and afterward we washed our hands and talked about it). I then will have him help me add the wet ingredients to the dry bowl and then I would let him play w/water in the sink, get down, watch the pancake batter cooking, etc. (I would move the bowl out of his reach). He also loves to use the avocado masher for making guacamole and he loved to help me make bread back when he could have gluten. (The recipe we used mainly was egg free so he got to eat all the little pieces off of my kitchenaid parts, which he thoroughly enjoyed).

MrsBeckO · July 2011

This isn't really edible, but my nephew likes to stand at the counter in his Learning Tower and stir a pot of uncooked pasta. They have a box of pasta they've designated as his, and anytime they cook, they give him a pot, a wooden spoon, and his box.. he dumps the box into the pot and has a ball stirring and scooping and standing with his Daddy.

Maybe you could try something like that to entertain your LO while you cook?

LoriJ11 · July 2011

MrsBeckO:
This isn't really edible, but my nephew likes to stand at the counter in his Learning Tower and stir a pot of uncooked pasta. They have a box of pasta they've designated as his, and anytime they cook, they give him a pot, a wooden spoon, and his box.. he dumps the box into the pot and has a ball stirring and scooping and standing with his Daddy.
Maybe you could try something like that to entertain your LO while you cook?

This is a great idea. I mostly have DD help stir things and make fruit salad, pasta salad, and things like that. She loves to help. I just put things near her that don't matter if she gets into them.

NewFamily09 · July 2011

How about instant pudding? You don't need to cook it at all and it won't hurt him to sample it. He can help with the pouring and stirring. Better yet, I bet he'd love dirt and worms. If you've never heard of it- it's a layer of chocolate pudding, topped with crushed up oreo crumbs and gummy worms (which you might have to leave out if that's a choking hazard).

celiabwatson · July 2011

Thanks for all the great ideas. Keep em coming.

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