The Forest Feast for Kids by Erin GleesonThis gorgeous recipe book managed to entrance a Lego-obsessed, rough and rowdy 5 year old for close to half an hour and then draw him into the kitchen to help with dinner. The pages are laid out in equally beautiful fashion to the cover. Recipes are simple, clear and very child friendly. It has a few nice pages at the beginning that explain measurements and prep terminology. There are lovely water colouring drawings of different kitchen tools you will need and finally a really useful set of pictures to show different cutting techniques for different fruit and vegetables. Recipes include snacks, drinks, salads, meals, sweets and even party favours. All of them are easy for little ones to help prepare and are so eye catching they won't be able to resist eating them! Did I mention it is all vegetarian too?
Scroll down for:
⚈ 1 Play ideas ⚈ 2 Classroom Activities ⚈ 3 Links to more Resources |
Get your hands on this book here:
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Fruit threading - Age 2+
Threading is a great activity for building up the hand muscles in little ones, so they are ready for a future of gripping a pencil. What could be more fun than threading fruit? We were inspired by the grape skewers on a drink recipe page and decided to make necklaces instead. A nice healthy alternative to those candy ones! We used soft coated gardening wire from the dollar store and gave it a good wash. It was perfect for easily slipping into the grapes. A quick and tasty activity!
Threading is a great activity for building up the hand muscles in little ones, so they are ready for a future of gripping a pencil. What could be more fun than threading fruit? We were inspired by the grape skewers on a drink recipe page and decided to make necklaces instead. A nice healthy alternative to those candy ones! We used soft coated gardening wire from the dollar store and gave it a good wash. It was perfect for easily slipping into the grapes. A quick and tasty activity!
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Foodie sensory play - Age 1+
There is really no limit to what you can use for sensory play, but you know best when it comes to your little one and what they put in their mouth. The beauty of using food for sensory play is that it should be safe no matter what. If any of your food prep involves peeling the skin off of a vegetable, try giving all the peelings to your little one to explore. Any new sensation can excite their senses. No peeling planned? Just grate a carrot or similar veg for them to get their hands into.
There is really no limit to what you can use for sensory play, but you know best when it comes to your little one and what they put in their mouth. The beauty of using food for sensory play is that it should be safe no matter what. If any of your food prep involves peeling the skin off of a vegetable, try giving all the peelings to your little one to explore. Any new sensation can excite their senses. No peeling planned? Just grate a carrot or similar veg for them to get their hands into.
- Pick a recipe and make it as a class
- Write a class cookbook
- Invite children to bring in recipes from home and discuss family traditions
- Challenge kids to play around with the recipes and change the ingredients
- Create water colour food art, similar to those seen in the book
If you have access to the CBeebies or BBC, then you'll love the show "I Can Cook" for getting little ones interested in cooking! A few clips of the show can be found on YouTube but for proper episodes you'll need access to the BBC channel.
Click below for other books and activities about food:
