Taste Our Favorite Kid-Friendly Recipes from PBS KIDS

Whether it’s baking cookies, roasting chickpeas, or making our own pizzas, my 2-year-old daughter loves to help in the kitchen. While it sometimes turns out to be more work for my husband and me, we also see how much pride she has in contributing to our meals. And how much she’s learning and having fun!

Gathering together as a family in the kitchen to cook can be a fun, educational, and comforting experience. Including young children in the act of cooking has many benefits, including:

• Practicing reading skills when reviewing the cooking instructions,
• Building math skills through counting and measuring ingredients,
• And giving them a sense of responsibility by helping to pick out a recipe or gathering the ingredients.

For a start to some kid-friendly kitchen fun, here is a round up of some of our favorite recipes inspired by “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” “Pinkalicious and Peterrific,” Molly of Denali,” and more PBS KIDS shows and characters!

1. “Molly of Denali” Spiced Oatmeal Muffins: Molly goes on many adventures in Alaska. While trying to find her missing beaded mitten with Tooey, Molly stops by Mr. Patak’s woodshop. Even though he did not have Molly’s mitten, Mr. Patak did have some warm oatmeal muffins to share! Introduce your child to making a simple spiced oatmeal muffin recipe with basic ingredients. Read through the ingredients list first, and then point out each instruction step. It will be fun to measure, mix and watch the muffins rise in the oven together!
2. Make “Alma’s Way” Piragua: In the Bronx, where Alma lives, piragua carts are a common sight. Piragua is a popular Puerto Rican frozen treat, and it’s as tasty as it is fun to make. Piragua sellers, called piragueros, push carts loaded with huge blocks of ice and many different flavors of fruit syrup, such as orange, coconut, pineapple, strawberry or cherry. No summer in the Bronx is complete without piragua! With a few everyday ingredients, you and your child can take ice and turn it into something yummy to enjoy at home!
3. Bake “Get Out the Mad” Cookies from “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood:” Sometimes children face frustrating challenges. When your child is feeling calm, ask how they work through being frustrated and mad. Talk with your child about ways they can calm themselves down when they are upset. For example, you can mention that when Daniel and his friends get mad, they practice taking a deep breath and counting to four. This recipe and activity encourages children to knead and pound dough as one way to talk through and deal with feelings like anger and frustration.
4. Make “Donkey Hodie” Flying Flapjacks for Breakfast: When Donkey Hodie tries and tries to make a special batch of Flying Flapjacks, her first attempts don’t go exactly as planned. She decides to ask her pals for help. Invite your child to make Flying Flapjacks and let your child take the lead. Let them know that you’re available to help if they need you. This easy and fun recipe is a perfect introduction to measuring, mixing, and pouring to help your child gain confidence in their kitchen skills. It’s also a great chance to show someone they care by mixing up a batch of Flying Flapjacks for a friend or loved one.
5. Make “Pinkalicious and Peterrific” Pink Lemonade: Pinkalicious likes to add a creative twist to everything she does, even when making her very own rainbow-ade! This Pinkalicious pink lemonade recipe has its own creative twist, too — sweet strawberries, which give this drink its color and delicious flavor.
6. Make Your Own Fruit Leather Inspired by “Nature Cat:” Making fruit leather is a healthy and tasty snack that is also a great family cooking activity! And what’s more, it’s the perfect snack to take on the go! Take a tip from Nature Cat and head out on a hike or outdoor adventure to explore — just be sure to bring along some fruit leather for an energizing snack. You can even bring along some extra to share with a friend.
7. Use Math While Baking Honey Cake from “Peg + Cat:” Peg and her friends find math all around them, including in the kitchen. As you bake and decorate a delicious honey cake, look for all the ways you use math — from measuring the ingredients, to setting the oven temperature and timer, to decorating the cake with geometric patterns.

And if your child wants to cook, but you need a little less mess at the moment, try these digital games from PBS KIDS that are all about cooking: