Cooking with your kids this silly season

Hello and a very Merry Christmas from the team at Shelley’s Good Eats! In this weeks post we’re going to chat about some simple ways to get your kids involved in some fun Christmas cooking during the weeks leading up to December’s main event…Christmas!

At Shelley’s Good Eats, we understand that the school holidays can be a stressful time of the year for parents! With the seemingly endless weeks of unplanned hours stretching out in front of us at the beginning of this time (no pressure), it can be hard to keep coming up with fun activities to do with your little ones.

Here at SGE’s we believe in Santa Claus…therefore, we want to give you and your kids the pre-Christmas gift you not only want, but also the gift you deserve! In the form of fun Christmas cooking activities, from your very own Shelley’s Good Eats recipe archive!

Not only does this gift give you the chance to spend quality, planned time with your children over the long Christmas school holiday break (phew!)…It also gives your kids some valuable cooking skills, which will only benefit them (and you when they are old enough to give you the night off cooking) in their future.

Spending the time to get your children involved in some of the household cooking is an important sensory experience for developing kids of all ages. This experience allows the children to touch, see and taste different foods during the cooking process. This sensory experience builds a safe and fun environment to expose your little ones to a wider range of foods at all their different stages during the cooking process.

Allowing children to be involved during the cooking experience, gives kids more ownership over their food choices. This feeling of ownership has been proven to make children more likely to try the foods they otherwise might have usually stubbornly and consistently refused at the dinner table.

You can get children as young as 2 involved in the kitchen, though of course we don’t want those sensitive little fingers going anywhere near a hot oven or oily pan…So it is always best to check out the recipe beforehand to see what stages of the cooking process will be easiest for your children depending on their age and abilities.

Fortunately, here at SGE’s we have done the hard work for you and have handpicked some of our favorite recipes and linked them below to make your silly season cooking activities as easy and stress free as possible!

Healthier Ginger Bread Biscuits

No one should miss out on delicious ginger bread this silly season so we have created a high fibre, low sugar variation that doesn’t compromise on taste! It is great to get your kids involved in cutting out the biscuits with their favourite cookie cutter’s. But you might need to help them with some of the other steps depending on their age, such as putting it in the oven, and rolling out the dough, as it can be tough! When they are cooked, get your kids to help decorate them as well!

Buckwheat crackers

This recipe is as simple as it is tasty and is a perfect chance to get your kids involved in the cooking process. You don’t need to get your kids involved in every stage of the cooking process, but for this recipe, we would recommend getting them to help you with the mixing and rolling of the cracker dough. This keeps those little hands away from the hot oven, while still helping to develop those important sensory skills. However, depending on your children’s age, you may need to help them with the rolling, as the dough can be a little tough and might require a bit more omff to flatten it out.

Savoury muffins

This savoury sensation is the perfect time to give your children more ownership over their food choices by letting them help choose their mix in ingredients. And if that wasn’t enough they can also get their hands nice and gooey by helping to mix the mixture all together. Though, when it comes to the oven stage of the process, it might be best to take over to avoid any burnt fingers and teary eyes.

Gingerbread strawberry Santa hats

Have you seen anything as creative or adorable as these little edible Santa hats…go ahead, we’ll wait! These little hats are the perfect tasty Christmas treat, not only for your mouth but also your eyes. The best time for your little ones to join in this recipe is during the mixing and making of the gingerbread dough. Though when it comes to putting those beautiful ginger babies into the oven, it might be a good idea to take over (have we said that enough?). Another great time for the children to join in the fun is during the hat assembling, that is of course after you torched yourself some tasty meringue and it has cooled enough to avoid any burnt fingers or mouths.

Kids Christmas Fruit Punch

These Christmas mocktails couldn’t make getting kids involved in the kitchen any easier! Simply mix all those refreshing ingredients together and sip away the silly season until your hearts content. These mocktails are so tasty, you may even consider switching up your normal Christmas drink for a special adult spiked version of these. Just remember to use a different container to avoid any unwanted Christmas surprises.

Kids Christmas fruit platter

While not quite a recipe, it’s great for your kids all together! Making fruit fun again, this kids Christmas platter is super simple, tasty and of course, Merry. After you’re done chopping up the fruits into smaller, more manageable portions, your children can take charge and create some festive fruit shapes using your Christmas cookie cutters. The perfect part is you can eat them straight away!

Have a lovely Christmas! With love from the SGE Team!

A bit about the Author

Hi my name is Karly. I am a 3rd year Nutrition student, studying on the beautiful Sunshine Coast. I work as an assistant at Shelley’s Good Eats, in-between my studies. As well as having a passion for all things nutrition, I also have a keen interest in sustainability. In the future, I would love to combine both of my passions and educate people in a dynamic and multifaceted way.