Gift Ideas for Child Cooks
Are you looking for gift ideas to encourage the love of cooking in a child? Here are some simple gifts to please aspiring kid cooks.
Favorite Recipes
A great gift idea is to buy a recipe box and fill it with a group of your favorite recipes. Choose an assortment of easy to cook salads, vegetables, soups, casseroles and baked dishes. Write the cooking instructions clearly in easy to follow steps, geared to children cooks. Add tips you have learned through the personal experience preparing the dish, to help the beginning cook.
Children’s Cookbook
Select a cookbook of easy recipes written specifically for kid cooks. Books with many illustrations and step-by-step instructions are most helpful to children learning to cook.
Children’s Book
A children’s book about young cooks or children cooking is a good gift choice. This can be a fiction story or a non-fiction book about kids who cook. Both new and used bookstores should have some good selections for this gift idea.
Personal Cooking Lessons
A few one-on-one cooking lessons for aspiring child cooks are a gift sure to please. You can pick an easy recipe or type of dish that the child is especially interested in. It works well to illustrate a cooking step, and then let students try it for themselves. Encourage kid learning to cook by complimenting their progress.
Kid Cooking Classes
A beginner’s cooking class for children is a welcome gift. The young cook might enjoy taking it with a friend or with you along to watch. Your local kitchen and cooking supplies stores may offer classes for kid cooks. Summer recreational programs and children’s organizations may also offer them.
Pots and Baking Pans
A small set of cooking pots or baking pans is a great gift for young cooking beginners. They will enjoy having their very own pots and pans to work with while learning to cook. Choose a simple set or create one by selecting a few easy to handle cooking pots or baking dishes.
Cooking Utensils
Another fun gift for child cooks is a utensils set. Plastic tools are a good choice. You can also put together your own set of cooking utensils. Select those you feel are most appropriate for the smaller, inexperienced hands of beginning cooks.
Children’s Apron
A smaller sized apron is a nice gift for kid cooks. You may find these at cooking and kitchenware or large department stores. If you enjoy sewing, you could make the child’s apron yourself, personalizing it with the name of the child.
Spices Set
A set of small bottled spices should be a gift pleasing to children learning to cook. You could put these into a small box labeled with the child’s name. If you prefer, you can also create your own set of spices, available in bulk at natural food stores.
Lettuce Seeds and Pot
An unusual gift idea for kid cooks is a package of lettuce seeds, potting soil, and a flowerpot. Choose a loose-leaf variety of lettuce that will continue to provide salad-making greens for the young cook. Or plant the lettuce yourself and give it as a gift. Include simple instructions on care for the plant and how to remove leaves for making salads.
