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8 Ideas to Make Children Want to Cook

To get kids interested in cooking, here are some fun activities and tasks to try that will make them proud of their culinary achievements. These suggestions work equally well with little ones all the way to teens.

1. Make the weekly menu

Before they even get into the kitchen, ask your young ones to set the dinner menu for the evening, or even for the whole week ahead—they’ll be more inclined to help you make the meals they’ve chosen! With tools like My RICARDO, it’s even easier to find recipe ideas and create a grocery list to buy everything you need.

2. Cook your restaurant or ready-made-product favourites

A recipe with tofu or muffins with bran and homemade raisins not exactly attracting the crowds in the kitchen? Try asking the kids to cook their own version of their favourite store product or restaurant meal. They might just discover the same good taste they love, and maybe even like their homemade version more!

3. Suggest a cookbook for children

There are several cookbooks written specifically for children. The recipes are simplified, are created to appeal to young people and offer simple steps to achieve them. A visit to the local bookstore or library will be well worth the trip.

4. Make popular recipes from social media

Are your children’s eyes constantly glued to a screen? Ask them to make one of their favourite TikTok or YouTube influencer’s recipes as a great way to bring their virtual universe into the kitchen.

5. Play food stylist

By plating each dish, kids can help create beautiful presentations with all the different ingredients for dinner or even dessert. Let them use their creativity to drizzle the sauce in a pretty way, garnish with a sprig of chives or create interesting shapes with all the elements of the dish.

6. Prepare gourmet gifts

For a loved one’s birthday, a visit to see the grandparents or to thank a teacher, children can make gourmet gifts that are sure to please. Plus, they’ll be proud to say that they made it all by themselves.

7. Invite friends over to cook

You’ll definitely be the coolest parents by inviting your children’s friends over for an afternoon in the kitchen. Choose one or two recipes to prepare in groups and divide the tasks among the kiddos. At the end of the day, let all the little chefs eat their creation, or give them what they made to take home (and show off!).

8. Discover a new food every week

Children tend to shun new foods they don’t recognize, so take them to the grocery store with you and have them choose a food or product they’ve never tasted. Having selected it themselves, they’ll be more tempted to try it. You can even search the Internet together to find ways to prepare it.

To learn which kitchen tasks to give to your kids according to their age, refer to this article: