17 Easy and Healthy Recipes for Kids (2024)

FAQs

What food can a 12 year old cook? ›

8- to 11-Year-Old Cooks

Kids at this age can follow simple, straightforward recipes, plan menus and meals, and begin to work with the stove or oven. Use this time to teach them about the dangers of equipment and utensils.

10- to 12-year-olds and up

This age group can use a chef's knife and start working independently in the kitchen with an adult in the house. Before they can graduate to cooking without close supervision, however, they should be assessed to see how careful they are with heat, sharp tools and food safety.

One of the best ways to help children and teens eat healthy is to encourage them to learn to cook. Learning to cook helps kids find out about nutrition and what it means to eat healthy. Kids who learn to cook benefit in other ways, too: Are more likely to eat healthy.

Cracking eggs takes a bit of training, but it's a great Montessori practical life activity you can start around 3 years old. Kids love to practice tapping the eggs on a hard surface, breaking them open with their thumbs, and later crushing the shells with a mortar and pestle.

Tween (ages 9–12 years)

Try to give them as much independence as you can, but be available in case they struggle with a step, or need a reminder to turn off the oven and clean up the kitchen. Most importantly, have fun! Happy baking!

What can I cook for under $30? ›

For the most part, kids ages 10 to 12 can work independently in the kitchen, but should still have adult supervision.

If you've been introducing your kids to cooking skills over the years, by the time they're teenagers they'll have the ability to do anything an adult can do in the kitchen (dads too!). They can plan, shop for, and cook a full meal for the family.

"By 12 years old, children should be able to bake a cake independently and cook simple meals, such as beans on toast, eggs, or porridge.