Cooking with toddlers and babies is an excellent way to bond, build core memories, and foster intrinsic motivation.
Why cook with your baby or toddler?
Small children learn through play. When you involve your little ones in your daily tasks you are teaching them their role in the family and the importance of contributing to the family and household. But you’re not only instilling values, you’re teaching them that these tasks can be fun. When you allow your children to help in the kitchen, your children will begin to associate helping with play.
Allowing your children to help fosters what’s called intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is the desire to complete tasks not for a reward or because we have to, but because we enjoy them.
Tips for cooking with toddlers
Your toddler wants to feel like their contributions are valued. How would you feel if you worked hard on a project for your boss only to have him throw your work out? Make sure to always use the food your child preps and helps with.
Along those same lines, avoid fixing or correcting your child’s work. If their mini sourdough loaf isn’t perfectly shaped or the icing on their cake it messy, that’s okay! If they want to do something differently than how you would prefer it to be done, let them. It doesn’t have to be perfect, your toddler is still learning, and they are autonomous little people with their own ideas and creativity. Let them know that their work is valued and they will strive to improve over time. Let them learn from any mistakes they might make. No one likes having their hard work nit-picked.
Always do tasks alongside your child. Toddlers are natural helpers. Part of that desire to help stems from wanting to be a part of the family unit. Use the time in the kitchen to bond with your child and learn to work together as a team.
If your child expresses interest in learning a particular kitchen task, don’t discourage them. They’re excited, they want to help, and they want to learn. Find a way to include them that is developmentally appropriate.
Ideas for making difficult tasks developmentally appropriate
If your child expresses interest in a particularly difficult task, rather than discourage their zest for learning, try breaking that task into smaller parts.
If you’re kneading a large batch of bread, try breaking a smaller piece off to let your child practice alongside you. When mixing a large batch of batter, put some of it in a smaller bowl for your toddler to mix his or her own. If you’re cutting a large watermelon, try cutting it into large slices and allow your child to use a Montessori knife to cut your big slices into handheld sizes. Before my son got the hang of using his Montessori wooden knife, I would have him hand me fruits and vegetables as I chopped them. You could also ask your child to bring you cooking utensils, like bowls from bottom cabinets.
What if a task is unsafe?
If a task is unsafe and you can’t find a way to safely include your toddler, tell them to “just watch me do this part.” When I’m cooking on a hot stove I place my son’s Montessori helper tower close enough that he can watch what I’m doing, but far enough way that there is no risk of him getting burned.
Sometimes if I’m stirring something on the stove, I will place his helper tower at the counter close to the stove, give him a pot with some ingredients in it, and let him stir his pot on the counter away from the heat.
Won’t cooking with my toddler just slow me down?
Yes. It will. And maybe that’s the point.
Cooking with toddlers can take patience and creativity, but know that when you include your toddler in your daily tasks, the time you’re spending now is an investment in the future. As your child grows, practices, and finds joy in your family’s daily life, he or she will blossom into a young person with strong intrinsic motivation who delights in acts of service.
Cooking with babies less than one year old
Cooking with your kids doesn’t have to wait until they’re old enough to stand at the counter and hold a spoon. Get them started early!
Children under a year old learn by using their senses: sight, taste, smell, touch, and sound. Invite your infant to learn in the kitchen by appealing to those senses. Let them watch you cook, taste test ingredients (if age appropriate), smell the aromas as dinner comes together, touch ingredients and safe utensils like rubber spatulas, and hear the noises of food being cooked.
Using a baby carrier when cooking with infants
The easiest way to involve a small infant is by cooking with your baby in a carrier, like a Boba Wrap. Using a Boba Wrap is appropriate while doing prep work at the counter. When my little was an infant I often cooked using my Instant Pot so I could keep him in the wrap and not have to worry about cooking over a hot stove.
Activities for baby while you cook
If you will be cooking over a hot stove, a baby carrier is likely not appropriate as you won’t want your sweet baby to get burnt by grease spatter or boiling water. While cooking at the stove, let your baby have some tummy time on an activity mat close by. Place the activity mat close enough that baby can still watch you while you’re cooking, but far enough away to avoid hot food and surfaces. Once your baby starts sitting up, you can set them up close by in the kitchen in a bouncer, swing, or activity chair. We used this activity chair from Crate and Barrel. Just be sure to move baby to a safe sleep space if he or she falls asleep in a swing or bouncer.
Once your baby starts crawling and pulling himself up, you can set up activity centers in the kitchen and let him play in the floor while you cook. Again, make sure he is close enough to watch and feel like he’s apart of what you’re doing while still being a safe distance away from hot food and surfaces. I usually always had success keeping my son entertained close by with activity cubes.
Cooking with toddlers ages 1-2
Once your toddler starts walking and climbing well on their own, you can invest in a Montessori Helper Tower. We bought this one on Amazon and painted it to match our kitchen cabinets. This helper tower is the best investment we’ve made for our little one so far. It allows him to stand at counter level with me in the kitchen so he can complete tasks without fear of falling off a regular step stool.
Start by allowing your toddler to watch you in the kitchen from his or her helper tower. Then, as he expresses interest in helping with certain tasks, let him!
Good first tasks in the kitchen
Stirring
The first task that my toddler expressed an interest in was stirring. Give your toddler their own spoon or rubber spatula and allow them to mix the ingredients with you as you mix using your own spoon.
As you can see in the photo below, there are two wooden spoons in the mixing bowl. My son and I both mixed the ingredients together at the same time with our own spoons.
Adding ingredients
Adding ingredients is another simple cooking task for toddlers between the ages of 1 and 2. Measure out the ingredients and let your toddler add them to the bowl or plate.
Passing ingredients and tools
My toddler loved passing me fruits and vegetables and watching me chop them. Ask your toddler to hand you ingredients that you need, and stop to taste test some of them in the process (especially if it’s strawberries).
Set your kitchen up so that your toddler has access to commonly used, non-breakable, safe kitchen tools, such as plastic mixing bowls, wooden spoons, and rubber spatulas. As you’re cooking, ask your toddler to retrieve items for you as you need them.
Chopping fruits and vegetables
At this age your toddler can start learning to chop soft fruits and vegetables such as bananas, strawberries, and bell peppers using a wooden toddler-safe “knife” like this one. This is the perfect starter tool for chopping as it’s easy for even the smallest hands to hold and maneuver.
Arranging items on baking sheets
Your toddler can help you arrange items on a baking sheet before they go into the oven. Avoid letting your toddler touch raw meat, but encourage them to help laying out items like cookies, french fries, vegetables, or homemade croutons.
Kneading and rolling out dough
If you make homemade breads, kneading and rolling out dough is a fun activity for toddlers to help with. If you’re working with a large portion of dough, pinch off a small piece to give to your toddler to allow them to practice alongside you. Make sure to incorporate their piece back into your dough before baking so they know that their contribution is valued. Alternatively, if making an item like sourdough bread, you could bake your child’s dough portion in a mini dutch oven or tea loaf pan.
Decorating
Decorating baked goods is probably the most fun activity when cooking with toddlers. Allow your toddler to help frost a cake or buy clearance sprinkles to shake onto sugar cookies.
Cleaning up the kitchen
Its never too early to start learning how to clean up the kitchen. Remember that for toddlers, helping out and learning new things is fun! This goes for cleaning too. Just like with cooking, never discourage your child from helping with cleaning tasks that they express an interest in, and always do those tasks alongside your child. These aren’t chores, its a team effort as they learn to master these skills with your help.
Somewhere between 12 and 18 months your kiddo should be able to help you with tasks like rinsing off dirty dishes in the sink, loading and unloading non-fragile items from the dishwasher, and wiping off counters.
When my son started to express an interest in helping with dishes, my husband and I bought wheat straw bowls, plates, and mugs off Amazon. This allowed Moose to be able to pull items out of the dishwasher and hand them to me to put away without the worry that something might break and shatter if dropped. We still have our fragile dishes, but they’re put away in the top of the cabinet waiting to be used again when he’s a bit bigger.
Cooking with toddlers ages 2-3
Once your toddler turns 2, he or she will be able to complete all the kitchen tasks mentioned above and you’ll be able to add a few new developmentally appropriate skills.
More advanced chopping skills
Once your child’s fine motor skills start to improve you can introduce more realistic Montessori wooden knives to practice chopping skills. You could also allow your toddler to practice using soft vegetables and a butter knife under close supervision.
At this age your child can also start using a food grater. Let your child grate cheese for soup, zucchinis for zucchini bread, or shred carrots for carrot cake.
Cooking with toddlers ages 3 and up
After your toddler’s third birthday they should be able to complete simplified version of most activities in the kitchen. At this age they can start using measuring spoons and cups, following simple recipes with photo cards, practicing more advanced knife skills with supervision, and using small kitchen appliances. If they are interested, let them try!
Do you cook with your toddler? What tips and tricks do you use? Let me know in the comments!
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- Boba Wrap
- Instant Pot
- Tummy Time Activity Mat
- Crate and Barrel Activity Chair
- Activity Cube
- Montessori Helper Tower
- Wooden Montessori First Knife
- Mini Dutch Oven
- Tea Loaf Pan
- Wheat Straw Bowls
- What Straw Plates
- Wheat Straw Mugs
- Montessori Realist Wooden Knives
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This post is dedicated to my late mother-in-law. Thank you for taking the time to cook with your son, for letting him help knead bread, and for teaching him to make pulla.
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