With the excitement of the festive season now well and truly upon us, it’s the perfect opportunity to encourage your little one into the kitchen – helping you to prep and create a range of delicious Christmas, Chanukah, or New Year’s Eve snacks.
Cooking together as a family lays the foundation for a healthy and happy relationship with food from a young age – and can often tempt even the fussiest of eaters to try new foods. It’s also a great opportunity to create beautiful family memories.
Here is a simple and healthy festive baking and craft ideas to get your little one into the kitchen:
Cooking Activities With Kids
- Make a batch of Gingerbread Pancakes and using Christmas cookie cutters, cut out different shapes to add a festive touch to any breakfast. You can also decorate them using berries, choc chips and yoghurt.
- Arrange cut-up fruit or vegetables into fun festive shapes as part of an afternoon snack or party grazing board. Use broccoli to create a Christmas tree and decorate it with capsicum lights and a cheese star.
- Cut out mini trees from pieces of watermelon and dip them in dark chocolate. You can also cover them with snowflake coconut cream or coconut shavings.
- Mix, mash and bake a range of delicious Christmas cookies – like these healthy Crispy Coconut Gingerbread Bites. You can swap out ingredients like white flour for wholemeal flour as a base for cookies, cakes, and snacks.
- Have a family pizza party using our sweet potato pizza base. You can cut up vegetables into Christmas shapes and design the perfect festive pizza!
- Create little Santas using our Cheesecake recipe and strawberry hats.
- Make homemade chocolates and encourage your little ones to pour it into their favourite moulds using our homemade chocolate recipe.
Craft Activities With Kids
- Using cookie cutters dipped in non-toxic paint, create a stack of festive wrapping paper using brown paper, newspaper, or baking paper.
- Use dried pasta and beans to create a range of fun and festive arts and craft projects.
- Purchase smoothie cups and decorate them before filling them with this delicious Banana and Cinnamon Smoothie.
- Cut up oranges into thin slices and dry them out in the oven to create traditional string decorations. You can also use cinnamon stick stars to add another festive element.
- Add cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice to any sweet baked goods to give them a festive overhaul.