Fun Cooking (and Eating) Activities for Your Class

Just because they’re kids does not mean that they’ll be completely useless in the kitchen. Think Junior MasterChef Australia, and you’ll know that there’s more to these kids than meets the eye when it comes to cooking.

 

But aren’t they too young to cook?

 

That depends.

 

There are so many ways for you to get these kids’ cooking skills ready without having to expose them to the dangers of the kitchen. Here are a few cooking activities that are sure to get them excited about their culinary potential, but without the cuts and burns.

 

Easy Peasy Yummy Sushi

 

Because some actual cooking is involved in preparing some of the stuff you need for sushi, you can choose to prepare them yourself beforehand, or just have the kids observe if you feel that they’re not ready for it yet.

 

What You’ll Need

 

• 1 ½ cups sushi rice
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• Salt-reduced soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• 2 tablespoons whole egg mayo
• 4 nori sheets
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 avocado sliced thinly
• 1 cucumber cut into sticks

 

What To Do

 

1. Rinse the rice and drain. Do this 2 or 3 times until the water runs clear. Set aside on a sieve and wait for it to drain completely.
2. Put the rice in a saucepan and add 1 ½ cups of cold water. Cover the pan. Place over medium heat. When the water starts to boil, reduce to low heat.
3. Let it simmer until the water has been completely absorbed. This should take another 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat and let it stand for 10 minutes with the cover still on.
4. Mix the vinegar and the sugar together in a microwave-safe jug. Toss this into the microwave with the heat set to high. Set the timer to 30 seconds.
5. Stir the vinegar mix until sugar is completely dissolved.
6. Transfer the rice into a ceramic bowl and try breaking up any lumps. Add the vinegar mixture to the rice slowly. Lift and turn the rice as you add the mix. Continue lifting and turning until the rice has cooled.
7. (Here comes the fun part for the kids!) Place a nori sheet on a sushi mat, making sure that the shiny side is facing down. Spread some rice over the nori sheet, making sure that you leave around 1 cm free on one short end.
8. Spread around 2 teaspoons of mayonnaise over the center of the rice.
9. Arrange a quarter of a cucumber strip, an avocado slice, and some carrots over the mayonnaise.
10. Using the sushi mat, roll this up firmly to form one long sushi roll. Cut this long roll into smaller pieces.
11. Repeat the process using the remaining ingredients.
12. Once done, serve with soy sauce.

 

 

Making sushi is fun for the kids especially when it’s time to roll them up. You can even have a Japanese theme day and let them enjoy the sushi using chopsticks.

 

Apples and Grapes Race and Eat

 

This activity is perfect for the smaller ones because it doesn’t really involve a lot of cooking. It’s fun, it’s yummy, and it’s healthy, too!

 

What You’ll Need

 

• 16 green grapes, each cut in half
• 4 Jazz apples
• 16 toothpicks

 

What To Do

 

1. Cut the apples lengthwise in half. Cut off the two cheeks for each half, leaving you with clean apple wedges.
2. Slip two toothpicks on either end on the wedges.
3. Place grape halves into each end of the toothpicks. These would serve as each apple car’s wheels.
4. Have an apple car race with little hungry mouths waiting at the finish line!

 

If you prepared the apple wedges beforehand, make sure you keep them from turning brown. Prepare a bowl of water with a squeeze of lemon in it and drop the apple wedges into it to preserve their color.

 

 

In case you don’t have apples, you can also go with peaches. Red grapes are also awesome substitutes for the green grapes.

 

Donut Hole Skewers

 

Sweet and healthy are two things that don’t always get along well. With these awesome skewers however, you can have the best of both worlds right in your pantry or classroom!

 

What You’ll Need

 

• Donut holes
• Fruits like berries, apples, or peaches, cut into bite sizes
• Salted caramel sauce
• Chocolate sauce
• Skewers

 

What To Do

 

Just mix the donut holes and fruits into the skewers and lay it out on a tray with the two different dips on either side.

 

As for the donut holes, you can grab ready-made ones from any donut store. If you’d rather do it yourself, you can find an awesome recipe here.

 

 

So who says these kids are too small for the kitchen? As long as you know exactly what’s safe for each age group to do, you’ll have great cooking (and eating) activities that the kids will definitely want to try at home with their parents, too!