5 Simple winter cooking activities to do with your toddler

Cooking with my two year old has quickly become one of my favorite activities. I recently asked him if he’d like to help me make dinner and he ran to his shelf in the kitchen, put on his apron, and started rummaging through the spice drawer for ingredients – I think it’s safe to say he loves it as well.

There are a few things that help keep our adventures in the kitchen mostly successful:

• Consistent expectations – I do not expect James to always stick around for the entire recipe. He often does, but he sometimes loses interest and goes to play Legos instead, which is totally fine with me. I do expect him to wash his hands before and after helping and to wear his apron (this keeps his clothes clean, but much more importantly is used in Montessori help young children understand the beginning and end of an activity). I also expect him to be safe on his step stool (we had to put it away for the day a couple of times when he first got it, but he soon understood / respected the limits).
• Child-sized tools – We certainly don’t have a miniature version of everything, but since we do cook together a lot, it’s been well worth it to get him a few tools of his own. He most frequently uses his chopper, cutting board, whisk, and masher. This site has wonderful children’s cooking tools.
• Reasonable recipes – I try to include my son whenever possible, but if it is a super finicky recipe that I would be worried about him messing up, I save it for a time when he’ll be otherwise occupied. For most things we make, he most enjoys gathering tools and ingredients, washing produce, chopping, dumping in pre-measured ingredients, and mixing. He also loves adding toppings to things like pizza!

Keeping those general tips in mind, here are 5 toddler-friendly cooking projects to try this winter:

1. Tearing kale leaves: I used to kind of hate tearing the leaves off of kale stems. It just seemed so tedious. James loves helping with this though, so I now rather enjoy it! Not to mention my happiness when he requested “more kale please” at the dinner table the other night. I definitely think helping prepare the ingredients helps!
2. Extracting pomegranate arils: This is definitely a fun one! We use the submerging in a bowl of water method. This can be a little messy though and I think the juice stains, so definitely make sure your little one has an apron or old shirt on.
3. Tearing herb leaves: Similar to kale, tearing the leaves off of rosemary, cilantro, thyme, etc. can be tedious, but not for tiny toddler hands! Smelling and tasting the herbs can also add to the experience.
4. Making applesauce: There are so many parts of this a toddler can help with. They can scrub the apples, chop them with a wavy chopper, add spices like cinnamon, and mash the cooked apples when they’re done. This is a great rainy / wintry day activity since the apples take a while to cook and fill the house with a wonderful smell.
5. Mashing root vegetables: Our little masher is definitely a favorite tool around here. From mashed potatoes to butternut squash, there are all sorts of things your toddler can help mash. If you have a baby who eats purees, I think this would be a great way to involve your toddler in helping make the baby’s food too.

I’m always looking for new ways to get James involved in the kitchen. Please share your ideas in the comments!