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Simple Recipes for Small Hands
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Summer time is a great opportunity for spending time with your children in the kitchen. Even very young children can learn about food and nutrition. Preparing food helps children learn about where foods come from, how they are made, and why they are important. Helping in the kitchen lets children know they can be helpful to the family, and it helps them learn skills like stirring, pouring, counting, and sorting.
Here are some skill building activities for you and your child to try together when preparing food.
- Squeezing lemons
- Washing vegetables and fruits
- Stirring and mixing
- Mashing
- Kneading
- Counting
- Using a cookie cutter
- Tearing lettuce or greens
- Measuring
- Pouring
- Rolling dough or meat into balls
No time to cook? Here are some ideas for quick, healthy meals that cost less than fast food and are perfect in a pinch.
- Fill pita halves with a mix of cottage cheese and spinach; heat
- Top a big green salad with cheese cubes and beans
- Home-made mini-pizzas made with english muffins, tomato sauce, vegetables, and cheese
- Fill tortillas with beans and cheese; heat and serve with corn or salsa
- Scramble eggs with cooked vegetables; serve with toast
- Top bread with tuna, tomatoes, or peppers and cheese; heat
Try these fun and easy recipes with your child to spice up the summer!
Anytime Burrito
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1/3 shredded cheese
2 tablespoons chopped green pepper
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1 flour tortilla
salsa (if you want)
- In a bowl, mix egg and milk together with a fork.
- Pour the mixture into a frying pan. Cook over medium heat.
- When mixture begins to thicken, add cheese, peppers, & onions. Cook 3-4 minutes.
- Wrap in tortilla. Put salsa on top!
(Source: FOOD! Supplement to The Boston Globe Newspaper in Education Program)
Banana Boats
1 small banana
½ cup cottage cheese or yogurt
small amount of canned fruit
1-2 graham wafers
- Split banana lengthwise and lay on a small dish.
- Scoop cottage cheese or yogurt on top of banana.
- Drain canned fruit and spoon over cottage cheese or yogurt.
- Crumble graham crackers over mixture.
- Serve for breakfast or lunch. Grab two spoons and share as a snack.
For more information on nutrition for children, or recipes and activities that children and parents can do together around food, contact the Leeds, Grenville, & Lanark District Health Unit's Health Action Line at 1-800-660-5853 and ask to speak to a Registered Dietitian.
Information and recipes from "Exploring Healthy Eating: Activities for Parents and Children to do Together." Centre on Hunger, Poverty and Nutrition Policy. School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Tufts University.
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