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Eat This! Creative Toddler Recipes for Easy and Fun Food
Imagine this; you're in the kitchen, baking cookies and goodies while your little one sleeps. You're halfway through cutting the butter into the batch of cookie dough when you hear him crying because he has woken from his nap. You dash to grab him from his crib, unaware that you have flour all over your apron. You give him a huge hug and h smiles at you as he begins to play with the batter remnants left on your clothes.
While you enjoy your little one, you realize you still have cookies to make and your toddler now wants to play with you. With cookie deadlines and a clingy toddler (a seemingly impossible combination), what do you do? While baking is undoubtedly easier without the supervision of your toddler, you can just as easily involve him in the process, with a little extra time and patience.
Your toddler will feel an immeasurable amount of pride when you let him help you in the kitchen. There are many toddler recipes that your child can help you prepare, depending on his age and level of dexterity. In the following few paragraphs you will learn where to find toddler recipes, as well as some recipe ideas that allow you to get your toddler involved without a huge mess.
Instant Gratification: The Most Important Ingredient
Most recipes for toddlers include simple and low-mess ingredients. They may include no-bake cookies, bar cookies, or other fairly simple recipes that are quick and easy to make. Instant gratification is a major part of a toddler's thinking, and thus they like to have things they can eat shortly after they put the effort into making them. If you have a favorite recipe that you want to whip up, you can still involve your toddler with that extra allotment of time and patience. These recipes may not carry the label of "toddler recipes", but you can use your judgment based on your child's age and maturity level.
Tips and Tricks for Baking with Your Toddler
While your baking experience will depend on the temperament of your child, there are some tried and true techniques to make it less stressful. Picking out recipes for your toddler that have large measurements (such as cups instead of teaspoons) will be easier and more accurate, as measuring with measuring spoons takes an incredible amount of dexterity that few toddlers have. Another thing that might be helpful is giving your toddler one or two choices of ingredients that he would like to put in, to prevent him from getting his hands into everything.
Toddlers love recipes that include colorful ingredients such as candies or colored sugar. If you have some extra time, you can let him be in charge of the frosting your cake or cookies. This allows them to express their creativity and eat it too! Once the two of you have completed your baking, take time to sit down together and enjoy your creation before tackling the mess in the kitchen.
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