Cooking Skills & Activities for Kids 6 yrs & Under

Age Appropriate Skills: Use blunt scissors to cut soft foods Use a can opener Wash fruits and vegetables Tear lettuce Stir, whisk, beat liquid or dry ingredients together Grease pans or cookie sheets

Age Appropriate Skills:

Use blunt scissors to cut soft foods
Use a can opener
Wash fruits and vegetables
Tear lettuce
Stir, whisk, beat liquid or dry ingredients together
Grease pans or cookie sheets
Use a rolling pin (to roll dough, crush cookies, make cracker crumbs)
Peel oranges, bananas, hard cooked eggs
Spread with a butter knife or sandwich spreader
Squeeze lemons or oranges
Mash vegetables or fruits with a fork or potato masher
Measure dry ingredients with supervision
Shape hamburgers or meatballs

Kids Can Cook Activities for Kids Aged Under 6 yrs

Try these kitchen activities on a rainy day or when you're cooking and want some extra help from your kids. Print and post Food Guide to Healthy Eating on the fridge, and ask your child to say which food groups are included in the following activities.

Lettuce Have Fun: Have your little helper tear up and rinse lettuce for salad. He or she might get a bit wet, but the best part is that kids who help make the salad may be more willing to eat it!

Cheese Please: Fill a non-breakable bowl with shredded natural cheese for your child to sprinkle with a spoon over a casserole or vegetable side dish. Put out an extra bowl for your child to nibble on!

Fruit Stew: Cut up several types of fruit and place in separate non-breakable bowls. Give your child a big plastic bowl and a spoon for mixing the fruits into a fruit salad.

Feel Better Snack: If someone in the family is feeling under the weather or having a tough day, let the other children prepare a good-for-you snack tray to cheer them up. Have them fill each cup of a 6-cup muffin tin with a different healthy goodie, such as breakfast cereal, sliced fruit, wheat crackers and cheese shreds. And don't forget to tuck in a hand-drawn picture or encouraging note.

Toast Art: Spread slices of toasted whole wheat bread with reduced-fat cream cheese or peanut butter for a blank canvas. Then set out some toppings for the kids to arrange decoratively on top to create a picture. Try fun-shaped cereal, sliced bananas, apple dices, strawberry slices and jam.

Hands-On Fruits & Veggies: Your kids will be more apt to eat fruits and vegetables if they have a hand in preparing them for a meal. Smaller fingers can snap off the ends of fresh green beans, break broccoli, tear salad greens, and help peel bananas and oranges. Let them help wash produce, too, such as cucumbers, mushrooms, potatoes and tomatoes.

Recipes for kids aged 6 years & under