Fun things for a toddler to help cook/make/bake?

[BubblesomeBella]

I'm work next week and want to think of fun things to do together.

We already make fairy cakes together but I want to try different things and would appreciate ideas and advice.

I was thinking of pizza but not sure what to use for the bases as we haven't got a breadmaker. Rice krsipies cakes are the only definite thing on the list

Would really love fun suggestions!

That should say off work next week

Much as the programme irritates me, look on the BBC website under 'I can Cook' for loads of ideas. She does a scone base pizza thats very easy - but personally I think the grapes on top is vile. Theres a baked pasta thing that could be good, cheesy bites, fish cakes and all sorts. No sharp knives used, or cooking on the hob

cookies, chocolate fridge cake (they enjoy bashing the biscuits and eating the resulting chocolate/biscuit/syrup mix), banana cake

chocolate crispies

I tried to make pizza dough with my 3 year old but it was far too labour intensive and he lost interest. I found it much more successful to buy fresh pizza bases and let him do the toppings himself.

Flapjacks are also good, although it does involve the hob. They can cut the butter up, measure the syrup and stir the oats once you've combined it to reduce the temperature. Then they can do some good patting into the tin. You can also make yourself feel better by adding dried fruit etc

Although mainly I'm posting to mark my place for some better suggestions.

biscuits you can cut out with cutters
jam tarts
get some icing pens to decorate cakes/biscuits (either home-made or bought)
in fact, buy a load of cake decorating stuff - sprinkles, silver balls etc.

Jam tarts
My DD loves rolling the pastry out and cutting out the circles.

yes with toddlers they have short attention spans so you can break it down into stages, eg make the pizza dough yourself (or use shop-bought as Assumetheposition says) then just do the toppings together.
Actually mine do like kneading bread, but not as one stage of making pizza.

sandwiches for lunch - real sense of achievement when done the spreading! And easy for you!

chop soft veg for tea - eg mushrooms with ordinary knife

I personally think the best cooking to do with toddlers (and any age children) is normal everyday cooking, just enourage your toddler to help with every meal you prepare next week, giving him little acheivable jobs to do.

This gets themused to just helping out in the kitchen and also teaches the basics of cooking and meal preparation. Let him help you measure out the ingredients for bread dough for pizza, let him help to wash or peel veg, clean up, wipe surfaces, fewtch things form the fridge etc etc.

I know there is a desire to make it 'fun' and by this make it into making sweet treats, but at that age anything can be made fun. Kids are never too young to start learning how to cook.

hmm, I think so too in theory OMDB but the bottom line is, dd loves making cakes and complains she is bored when I try to get her to help with normal cooking.
Actually having said that she does like peeling things with a peeler - it is a bit sharp but I think a little bit of risk is ok

Also if children are shown how to use equipment like sharp knives properly and with supervision they can use them a lot sooner than many parents think.

lol yes badgardener, a little risk is ok I think! My DS loves using the tin opener and turning the hob on and peeling veg, but after that he is bored...

madamedeathstare pizza dough is made my mixing water with flour and yeast, surely that is no harder than using the packet mix?

I agree with ombd. I just let DD help with whatever I'm cooking. Sprinkling cheese/raisins, stirring and whisking, chopping. Or she'll just sit on the floor with a pan, wooden spoon and some dry pasta and make her own 'soup'. She also likes to wash up with me. I just give her a brush and she stirs and prods around in the water.

I also wanted to suggest cutter this knife. It cuts cheese, cucumber, anything really, but won't cut the child! You can literally run it across your hand - it's not sharp at all but saws through the food.

Pancakes would be good. Measuring, stirring, filling and rolling.

Have fun!

scones are easy to make, your toddler could cut them out using playdough cutters

simple delicious chocolate chip cookies.

My DD (3) loves making them. She chops up the chocolate, helps me measure the ingredients and does all the mixing. You don't need to be too neat when putting them on the baking sheet so she does the dolloping. They cook quickly so it is almost instant gratification.

I get her to help make dinner too, she was chopping courgettes tonight with a normal (not v sharp) dinner knife, and she made a fruit salad yesterday.

Does anyone have a decent flapjack recipe? and can you educate me on what oats to buy? Some of them seem to have powdered milk etc in them...

Oops - wasn't supposed to say cutter! Just this knife.

Today my DD (2.7) and I made a pizza for her tea- used the recipe for the base from 'I can cook'- really easy for her and not too complicated or too many stages. Then instead of the chopped tomatoes I had some of my variation on AK hidden veggie sauce pre-made which she loved spreading on, and some grated cheese. Worked really well and she was dead proud to be able to eat it for tea. IMHO nice to be able to do something savoury rather than just all sweet treats, and actually she was able to do much more with this recipe than when we do cakes (she's scared of my whisk! )

agree re the pampered chef cutter - my DC have one each. and an Ikea stool each. I can't make a sandwich or a bowl of creal without involvement.

muffins are good. they can measure, put muffin cases in, stir, pour milk, stir, add fruit, sift flour, stir, splodge mix in cases etc etc. mini muffins cute but bigger ones easier if you want them to get some of the mix in the cases.

DS is almost 3 and is always asking me if we can make "bang bang chicken" together.

Think I originally got it from an Annabel Karmel book but I make it from memory now cause it's so easy.

Take a chicken breast and wrap in clingfilm then using a meat hammer or a rolling pin, bash it until it's about 1cm thick all over - this is DS's favourite bit Cut into strips and then dip first in plain flour, then beaten egg and finally breadcrumbs (I make ours by zapping the crust from a normal sliced loaf in the food processor) Add some grated Parmesan to the breadcrumbs for extra flavour. It gets very messy and obviously you have to make sure fingers do not go in mouths and hands are washed well afterwards because of the raw chicken, but it's lots of fun! Then melt a little oil and butter in a frying pan and cook the strips till golden.

The bashing tenderises the chicken too so it's much easier for little ones to eat.

Goes great with potato wedges or mash and veg

Ooh and we made the Lemon drizzle cake from the homepage today too. I made the cake and DS sis the drizzling. He loved it

How about this blog mydaddycooks.com he makes all sorts with his liitle boy helping out, and the recipes look lovely too.

I also like the stuff she makes on I Can Cook, so would try some of those too, you could watch the episodes on cbeebies iplayer first to get the idea and then do it yourself.