Toddlers love to say “me do it”. The trouble is, there’s a lot of things they really aren’t ready to do. Here’s some very easy recipes we used when our boys were small. Most came from their wonderful preschool teacher. Make sure children are old enough for the snacks and aren’t allergic to any of the ingredients.
Shaky apples : An adult cuts the apple into toddler bite sized pieces. (A little bit older child could cut slices into small pieces, with supervision.) The child puts the apple pieces into a zipper type plastic bag. Then the child can measure into the bag a tablespoon of white or brown sugar, and about ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon. Seal the bag, and the let the child shake it as much as they want. Open the bag and you have yummy cinnamon apples for snack time. We also liked to throw in a few raisins and nuts. (Our preschool teacher often cut the apple in half to show the star shape the seeds make.)
Shaky banana: Put a graham cracker in a zipper bag and let them smoosh the cracker into crumbs. Most toddlers can cut a banana into slices with a butter knife. Let them add the banana slice to the crumbs. Shake, and eat. A little messy, but they love it.
Curious George banana: Let the child peel a banana, and place on a plate. Have the child spread peanut butter on the banana. Then they can cover the banana with small fruit flavored cereal, or decorate with raisins, nuts, or even coconut.
Cheese Shapes: Let the child cut out shapes from thin slices of cheese with miniature cookie cutters. They can arrange them on a plate, or put them on crackers. The scraps can be grass, or clouds, or whatever the child wants to imagine – and they are good to eat, too!
Animal Cracker Sandwiches: Let the child pick two matching animal shapes. Spread one side with cream cheese or peanut butter, and press another matching animal on top. Yummy. This also works with vanilla wafers.
Have fun “cooking” with your little ones.
More Easy Recipes for Cooking with Kids:
Cooking With Kids: Fruit Salad
A First Muffin for Kids to Cook