Cooking with Kids | Tips and Recipes

5 Tips for Cooking with Kids

Cooking with children is a super fun learning experience, often with a lot of mess involved! These five quick tips for cooking with kids will help keep things under control and still keep it fun.

1. Choose the right recipe

Simple no-fail recipes are the best choice. Look for recipes that can’t be over mixed and aren’t time sensitive, such as no-bake treats. Recipes like chocolate crackles and rocky road are great.

Cakes, slices and other baked goods are fantastic too, but will require more guidance. Consider the age of the children, their current cooking ability and how involved you’d like to be.

2. Accept the mess

Spills and thrills are inevitable, but before you get started, tick off this checklist for an easier clean up:

• Clear your workspace

• Put on aprons or old clothes

• Tie back long hair

• Lay down butchers’ paper or plastic table cloth

• Have a dustpan at the ready

• Place a bin nearby

With these tips in place, cleaning up with the kids’ help will be a breeze.

3. Set aside plenty of time

Forget the estimated prep time! It will take much longer when you’re involving the littlies. And although no-bake recipes are great because they're easy to make, they usually need time to set before the kids can dig in. If you need to make something by a certain time, choose a make-ahead recipe and make it the day before.

4. Take the learning opportunities

Cooking is a great chance to make learning fun. It's the perfect chance to talk about measurements, teamwork, sharing and telling the time for baking and setting.

5. Have fun with each step

When you have the right recipe, it's easy to let the kids lead the way. Whether it’s stirring just a bit longer than necessary or giving the kids creative freedom with decorating - you can let the kids run amok and have fun mixing, playing and enjoying each part of the process.

Get cooking

If you're ready to get started, check out fun no-bake recipes for kids below! If you want even more recipes, check out these collections:

• Easy kids dessert recipes

• 8 fun baking recipes for kids

Learn more about Copha

This recipe might look complex, but it's a simple mixture that gets rolled into balls. Depending on their skill level, there's something for everyone. Rolling the balls is nice and easy, and slightly older kids will have fun decorating their own snowmen.

Chocolate crackles are not only a nostalgic Aussie favourite, they're also a foolproof recipe that can't go wrong. This recipe also gets decorated with colourful M&M's, or you could let them use their favourite lollies.

This slice has three layers, including a layer of crushed biscuits which is always fun for the kids to create.