Easy cooking ideas for 3 to 6 year olds, including homemade sausage rolls, banana muffins and funny face pizzas…
Looking for easy recipes for cooking with kids aged 3-6 years? Weve got loads of easy ideas for you and your little ones to make together.
Cooking with kids is always a good idea – it keeps them entertained while learning new skills and there is food to eat at the end of it – win, win. Weve rounded up our best recipes for younger kids of 3-6-year-olds and theres everything from homemade sausage rolls to funny face pizzas to cupcakes and muffins, including ideas from childrens cooking guru Annabel Karmel.
“Cooking and baking is a great way to spend time with your child on a 1:1 basis. It gives you the opportunity to communicate with your child and helps them to practice important gross and fine motor skills and mathematical and scientific skills – weighing, counting, and measuring. Having to follow a recipe helps strengthen their attention span, helps them learn to follow instructions, and also teaches them new language and vocabulary,” says Kirsty Ketley, a parenting consultant, and early years specialist, who is a mum of two.
Cooking is one of the great things to do with kids – especially over the school holidays or a rainy day and a great way to spend quality time with your child. So, roll up your sleeves, get your hands sticky together, and enjoy (even if you will be the one clearing up the mess at the end of it all…)
Cooking with 4-6 year oldsAssemble foods: make trail mix or their own yogurt smoothie with toppings you’ve prepared.Stir ingredients together (like muffins, pancakes, sauces)Slice soft-cooked vegetables, soft fruit, cheese or tofu with a plastic knife.Crack and beat an egg.Cook with a friend for a fun play date.
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Assemble foods: make trail mix or their own yogurt smoothie with toppings you’ve prepared.
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Stir ingredients together (like muffins, pancakes, sauces)
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Slice soft-cooked vegetables, soft fruit, cheese or tofu with a plastic knife.
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Crack and beat an egg.
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Cook with a friend for a fun play date.
1 Mary Berry’s iced fairy cakes
Makes: 12 | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 15 mins
These charming old-school fairy cakes from the doyenne of baking, Mary Berry, are a wonderful choice to do with younger kids. Its a back-to-basics recipe, whereby the kids can learn how to make a cake sponge and a simple icing made from icing sugar and water. Top with whatever your sweets of choice are – we do love a Dolly Mixture here for its range of flavors and looks, but youre welcome to freestyle!
Get the recipe: Mary Berrys iced fairy cakes
Tasks for the kids:
- Measuring out ingredients
- Stirring the cake mix
- Helping to make the icing
- Spooning the icing
- Decorating the tops with sweets
Skills learned:
- Basic maths
- How to make a cake mix and icing
- The art of decoration
We would like all of our Caesar salads to look like this from now on
1 Funny face pizza
Makes/serves: 4 | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 8 mins
These funny-face pizzas are a great way to get the kids working together to make their own dinner – especially when theyve got their friends around after school. This recipe shows you how to make the bases first, which they can get involved in, and then they can have free reign on decorating the tops – cue a lot of hilarity, especially when they go in the oven and come out looking all comical. This one is a rustic approach, definitely, no need to strive for perfection here!
Get the recipe: Funny face pizza
Tasks for the kids:
- Helping with creating and kneading the dough
- Rolling out the dough
- Spreading on the tomato sauce and sprinkling on cheese
- Freestyling on the toppings – olives or cherry tomatoes for eyes, sliced pepper for the mouth, sweetcorn for teeth – you get the idea!
Skills learned:
- Being creative with designs and flavors
- How to make the dough
A sweet use for our favourite Dolly Mixtures
Easy One Bowl Applesauce Cake with 4 Year Old Susie
FAQ
At what age should a child start cooking?
How old should a child be to use a microwave?
What are some easy cooking ideas for 3 to 6 year olds?
Easy cooking ideas for 3 to 6 year olds, including homemade sausage rolls, banana muffins and funny face pizzas Looking for easy recipes for cooking with kids aged 3-6 years? We’ve got loads of easy ideas for you and your little ones to make together.
What food should be given to kids?
Each phase of a child’s life presents a nutritional need, and in the first cycle, when babies are breastfed, breast milk during the first six months of life. After this period, food introduction begins.
What are the best recipes for cooking with kids?
Here are 18 of our go-to dinner recipes that are perfect for cooking with kids. These restaurant-style nachos have it all: cheesy chips layered with salsa-covered chicken and black beans, topped with all your favorite fixings.
How do you cook with preschoolers?
Our advice for cooking with preschoolers—including the best dishes for them to start with. When you’re cooking with preschoolers, begin with simple-assembly recipes, such as smoothies, sandwiches, or a salad or taco bar.