While good nutrition is vital for children’s health and development, it’s equally important for them to develop a good ‘relationship’ with food. Kids (and their parents) can face a number of daunting challenges with food as they grow, from fussiness as toddlers to weight worries as they grow older. Spending time cooking and becoming familiar with different foods may help with problems such as these, with the bonus of being great-quality family time. As children get older, they can help to plan meals together with you, though even quite young children can nominate some favourite foods they’d like to include.  After all, our tiny babies and toddlers will all grow into adults one day, and it’s impossible to expect them to be able to feed themselves well if they don’t know how to cook.

Tasting the many benefits of cookery

We may think of cooking as an activity purely for making food to eat, but it can be so much more. The physical aspects such as mixing and pouring promote motor skill development, and counting, weighing and measuring ingredients are maths in action. There are also a myriad of ways to introduce conversations about science (solids melting to become liquids, and water heating and becoming steam perhaps), art (patterns and colours), and geography (foods from different countries, cultures and religions). Plus it’s a great creative activity to bond over, with a tasty end result that children can be proud of. 

Cooking is valuable for all children, but maybe even more for those who are more fussy. It can be a fantastic way to make food fun, exposing our little ones to new foods and presenting them in different ways. And you may well find your children are happier to taste a new food if they’ve prepared it themselves. They might even eat more of their vegetables (without the nagging!). A study in Switzerland found that children aged 6-10 ate 75% more salad (yes, salad!) if they had helped their parents prepare the meal, versus the children who had played while their parents cooked alone.

I know those children were older than the little ones at Mother Duck, however tearing up lettuce and making patterns on a plate with cherry tomatoes, cubed cucumber and strips of capsicum really is as easy as child’s play. And for those of you who have trouble persuading your children to eat much of their meals overall, the research found that children who helped with meal preparation also ate more of the meal overall, a whopping 25% more. Perhaps most importantly, the children reported a sense of pride in helping with this usually adult activity. 

Cakes and sweet treats

They’re not the healthiest foods, but cooking cakes and biscuits is a perfect way to tempt children into the kitchen – no matter what goes wrong, the results will usually still taste delicious. Making a cake can be as easy as adding egg and milk to a packet cake mix. And putting a sloppy mix in the oven and having an actual cake come out is about as close as most of us get to a real magic trick! While it’s not an everyday food, baking a cake does show young children how ingredients transform when they are mixed and cooked – yes, you can call this a science lesson. It also helps to develop the motor skills needed to mix and pour…and the frequently messy business of toddlers cracking eggs!

If you’re looking for a really quick recipe, search online for a mug cake recipe. They may not be the best cakes you have ever tasted but you can literally make and bake a cake in about 5 minutes in your microwave. Many recipes suggest one mug cake per person but if you’re cooking with toddlers I suggest you allow one between you and one or two children. Served warm they also make a delicious special pudding when topped with custard. (By the way, these cakes are best made just before you serve them – they don’t keep well.)

Scones are also a treat but tend to be healthier than cakes and biscuits – especially if you go easy with the butter and jam on top. And muffins can be made ‘mini’ in cupcake tins or wrappers, which is a more suitable size for small children. They are a great way to add a little fruit, such as berries, sultanas or chopped apple. You can also make a savoury version: leave out the sugar and add grated cheese and corn or grated vegetables such as carrots or zucchini. The same can be done with pancakes. If you’re in a hurry, as we often are in our house, the pre-made mix may come in handy and we just add some blueberries or chopped strawberries on the side. 

Moving on to different food groups

While it may be easier to cook sweet things like a cake or biscuits with children, it’s great to also encourage healthier foods. Older children can assist with more complex cooking tasks, but there are plenty of ways toddlers can help with food preparation. Vegetables and fruits are a good place to start. My youngest child’s favourite vegetable is mushrooms (yes, really!) and they are ideal for young children to help prepare. They can break larger mushrooms apart with their hands or use a blunt table knife. Other easy options are snapping the ends off beans, or chopping soft fruit with a blunt knife for fruit salad.

Food on sticks

Older children will enjoy putting (and eating) food on skewers, so long as they are safe to handle the sharper ends. Some savoury foods they could use to make kebabs include: 

• chunks of precooked chicken 
• cooked meatballs
• cooked firm tofu or tempeh chunks
• grilled halloumi cheese chunks
• cherry tomatoes
• cheese cubes
• squares of different coloured capsicums
• cooked mushrooms. 

Chunks of fruit could also be used to make fruit salad skewers for dessert, or even frozen for a healthy alternative to ice blocks. 

Older children could help make the meatballs themselves, whether to put on skewers, grill and stuff in a pita bread, or cook in tomato sauce and serve with pasta. Just take mince and mix in chopped herbs or other flavourings such as a little grated cheese, cooked onion, finely chopped olives or sun-dried tomatoes. Mix in an egg to help bind the mix and then kids can shape them into balls for cooking. Do remind them not to taste the raw mix and have a thorough hand-wash afterwards.

More easy meals

Other simple meal options include quesadillas and pizzas. Using ready-made tortillas you can have quesadillas on the table in minutes – kids can devise their own and (with help) assemble them themselves including a meat (maybe leftover chicken or bolognaise sauce) or a vegetarian alternative such as tofu or beans. Then add a veg or two, such as corn or mushrooms, plus some grated cheese. The it’s up to mums, dads or carers to heat the quesadilla for a few minutes on each side (I find a dry frying pan is best for this), and that’s a light meal ready to eat. 

Pizza is a popular takeaway for most kids and their parents, but it’s cheaper and healthier when you make it at home. And kids will love to help. If you’re keen and have time. you could make the base yourself, but otherwise you could buy a ready-made plain base (or use a pita bread). Kids will be able to spread on a little tomato paste or tomato pasta sauce (or just use a little oil if they really don’t like tomato). Then they can go wild with toppings such as cooked chicken or a plant-based alternative, mushrooms, onion, tomato, capsicum or even frozen peas and frozen corn – whatever your children’s hearts’ desire. The wonderful thing about pizza is that you can choose the toppings so there are some that each child likes. Add some mozzarella cheese and pop it in the oven and they’ll have made their own dinner! 

Safety first

Of course, with all of these suggestions, different ideas will suit children of different ages. And there are some precautions to remember in order to keep kids’ cookery safe. These include:

• Wash hands before and after cooking.
• Rinse fruit and vegetables well.
• Don’t taste raw meat, egg or flour/dough/cake mix.
• Use very blunt knives for toddlers and use common sense to decide when older children can handle sharper knives and skewers.
• Follow the usual precautions to keep chopping boards and utensils used with raw meat separate from those used for cooked food or foods that will not be cooked before eating. 
• Keep young children away from the oven, cooktop, microwave, air fryer and kettle until they are old enough to understand the dangers. Ensure saucepan handles are turned towards the back so they can’t be reached by inquisitive hands, and use heating elements towards the back of the stove or hob, further from children’s reach. 
• Allow foods to cool before serving them. 

Food for the future

There’s nothing that makes kids prouder than serving up a meal they have cooked themselves (maybe with a little help from parents or carers). Cooking with our kids has the potential to benefit their health both now and for the rest of their lives. And maybe, in years to come, they will learn enough cookery skills to surprise us with breakfast in bed on Mother’s and Father’s Day! 

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: Please note that this newsletter is for general information only. It should not be taken as a substitute for qualified medical advice. Please discuss medical issues with your child’s doctor before taking any action.

© Fiona Hinton 2025

About Fiona: Fiona Hinton is a dietitian, but describes herself as a nutrition translator, taking the science of nutrition and translating it into foods we love to eat, to nourish both body and soul. She has over 20 years of experience as a dietitian, working in a wide range of areas from hospital wards to running her own private practice. Fiona has a special interest in children’s nutrition. As a mum of three school-age boys, she has first-hand experience of the issues associated with feeding young children, such as weaning and fussiness. Fiona specialises in real-life strategies and practical suggestions to convert nutrition advice into food kids will eat. Fiona has collaborated on several books, including one with best-selling children’s food writer Annabel Karmel, as well as training childcare staff in children’s nutrition.