a child helping an adult hold something as they bake

Five Kids Kitchen Activities

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This time of year many families are spending more time in the kitchen preparing for the holidays. We have collected five kitchen activities to engage your kids in the kitchen, whether they work on their cooking skills or playing in the kitchen while you get the work done.

Kitchen Helper:

Kids learn a lot of important skills helping in the kitchen. Here are age-appropriate cooking skills your young child can work on:

Ages 2-5

  • stirring dry and liquid ingredients
  • helping to measure
  • sifting dry ingredients
  • pouring or tipping ingredients into the bowl
  • rolling dough out
  • shaping balls and patties
  • using cookie cutters
  • cutting soft ingredients with a safe knife
  • rinsing fruit and vegetables

Kitchen match-up:

With this kitchen match-up game, your child will learn about spatial reasoning, problem-solving, build working memory, develop new vocabulary, and a new way to use their environment for play.

What You Need:

  • Large sheet of butcher paper
  • Kitchen utensils (ex: spatula, spoon, measuring cup)
  • Marker or crayon

What You Do:

  1. Tape the paper to the table or floor.
  2. Trace outlines of the utensils on the paper with a marker or crayon.
  3. Move the utensils.
  4. Have your child try to match the utensil with the traced outline!

Foil Wrapping Game:

Foil is an interesting sensory experience for your little one with its unique texture, shine, and even sound. Wrapping and unwrapping, crinkling, folding, and unfolding foil are all great ways to build fine motor skills!

What You Need: 

  • Foil sheets
  • Play food, kitchen utensils, or toys

What You Do:

Take turns wrapping the play food/utensils/toys in foil. Have your child guess what each item is and then unwrap them. Then, have your child wrap items and you can guess what is hidden inside!

Yarn Kitchen Play:

This yarn sensory activity is such a fun way to play in the kitchen! It is also a perfect prompt for pretend play! Your child may pretend to cook a special dish or serve a fancy dinner!  

What You Need:

  • Yarn scraps
  • Large bowl or container
  • Kitchen utensils: bowls, pasta claw, tongs, spoon, plastic forks, cups, empty egg carton

What You Do:

  1. Put all the yarn scraps and kitchen utensils into the large container. (Cutting yarn with child-safe scissors might be a fun way for older toddlers to help prep for play.)
  2. Encourage your child to scoop, dish, squish, stir. Talk with them about what they see, feel, and hear.
  3. Try engaging in pretend play, whether it’s pretend food prep, cooking, grocery store, restaurant, or family meal!
  4. Have your child practice cleaning up, too, when they’re finished playing.

Kitchen Utensil Rhythm & Rhyme:

The kitchen is a fabulous place to put on a dance party and get your wiggles out! You can make your own rhythms & rhymes to dance & sing to! What kinds of sounds, rhythms can you make with utensils in your kitchen? 

Try these rhythm & rhyme kitchen activities:

  • Make a drum with a wooden spoon on a metal pot or muffin tin
  • Make a shaker with dry rice or beans inside a recycled, lidded yogurt container
  • Clang spoons or pot lids together to make cymbals
  • Say this silly, well-known rhyme with your child:

Hey, diddle, diddle

The cat and the fiddle

The cow jumped over the moon

The little dog laughed to see such fun

And the dish ran away with the spoon!