Easter is coming and it is a great time to get the kids involved in the kitchen and make special treats for all the family. We have gathered 10 simple and scrummy Easter recipes from around the world for you and your children to cook together. from breads to cakes, eggs to carrots,. Lots of our favourite Easter treats are represented.
Easter Recipes from Around the World
A peanut candy common to the rural areas of the south-eastern parts of Brazil, Paçoca de Amendoim is a yummy Brazilian treat made for Easter. Traditionally, it contains peanuts, sugar, condensed milk, and manioc (cassava) flour. If you have nut allergies, you can do as Leanna, from All Done Monkey, did and substitute the peanuts for almonds. Either way, it looks really tasty and so easy to make.
Image by All Done Monkey
Ricotta, orange and chocolate chips. Yummy! This Italian pie requires a little work but, judging by the images, it will all be worth it. Tara, from Tara’s Multicultural Table, shares this amazing recipe for an Italian Easter treat: Easter ricotta pie.
Image by Tara’s Multicultural Table
For something a little different, can we tempt you with an Ethiopian bread called Defo Dabo Bread. To make it you will need banana leaves. These may not be that easy to find, but it will be worth the effort. Leanna, from All Done Monkey, shares her recipe and some great little tips for making the bread with children.
Image by All Done Monkey
Capirotada is a Mexican sweet pudding made with bread. You can add different flavours to it like pumpkin, nuts or apple and cinnamon. You can also eat it plain. Mari, from Inspired by Familia, share this sweet bread from her childhood.
Image by Inspired by Familia
Ah! Nothing says Easter like hot cross buns freshly out of the oven. Add chocolate chips and the children will be in heaven. Tara, from Tara’s Multicultural Table, has a delicious recipe you can make with the whole family for the quintessential British Easter celebrations.
Image by Tara’s Multicultural Table
Babka is a traditional bread eaten in Poland for Easter. It can be eaten plain or you can add raisins, cinnamon or chocolate in it. It looks divine when toasted. This recipe will probably require a little pre-planning as it uses a fermentation technique that requires overnight rest. Martha & Jack, from A Family Feast, share their family’s recipe.
Image by A Family Feast
The mouna (also known as mona) is the name of a brioche shaped as a dome or a crown, traditional in Algerian cuisine, particularly in Oran (a coastal city in North Western Algeria), where it is traditionally consumed during the Easter celebrations. This special brioche is flavoured with citrus (in particular oranges). Hénia, from The Teal Tadjine, has a delicious recipe I have personally tried and tested many times.
Image by The Teal Tadjine
A cheesy Easter bread? Yes, please! Pasca, is a sweet, soft, yeast braided bread with a cheese centre. It sounds absolutely delicious and I can’t wait to try it for myself. Roxana, from A Treat’s Affair, shares her Romanian traditions and this very tempting recipe.
Image by A Treat’s Affair
Eggs are a symbol of Easter. These little Paashaasjes or Easter bunny breads are so cute, all children will love them. A raw egg is placed on each bunny and baked in a basic bread dough shaped as a bunny. So much fun and so simple! Take a look at Tara’s, from Tara’s Multicultural Table, recipe for these sweet bunny breads.
Image by Tara’s Multicultural Table
We couldn’t have a round-up about Easter recipes without carrots, right? Here is an American version of scones with carrots. Perfect for hiding some vegetables for your toddler! Corinne, from Wonder Mom Wannabe, shares her cute recipe for the Easter-themed carrot cake scones.
Image by Wonder Mom Wannabe
Tell us! What is your favourite Easter recipe from around the world? What will you be making this year?
Christmas is an ideal time to get in the kitchen with your children. At Cooking With Languages, we know the importance of keeping it simple and making it fun.
With thanks to our social media friends, we have compiled our very first list of Easy Christmas Recipes for Kids from different countries around the world. As well as making some simple and scrummy recipes for you all to enjoy, we will also have a look at some new words in different languages.
For starters, read through the following recipes and, using your chosen target language, prepare a shopping list for the ingredients. As language knowledge develops, you can then look at the using instructions in your target language … (Our bilingual activity cookbook enables you to do this in both English and Spanish)
In this first Christmas Round-Up of Easy Christmas Recipes for Kids, we have some delicious recipes from Australia, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain.
Mini Mince Pie Puffs from the United Kingdom (Eats Amazing)
Mince pies are a favourite in our house. We have to leave making the until as close as possible to Christmas, otherwise, they do not last! We love the idea of these light puff pastry bites as an alternative and also as an excuse to make more 😉
Ingredients (makes around 30):
- 1 320g sheet ready-rolled puff pastry
- 1/3 jar good quality ready-made mincemeat
- 1 egg
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 190°C (Gas mark 5/375°F). Line 2 baking trays with grease proof or baking paper.
- Crack the egg into a small bowl and lightly whisk.
- Unroll the sheet of pastry. Using a small cookie cutter*, cut out as many shapes as possible from the sheet, cutting each shape as close the previous one as possible to maximise the number cut.
- Place half of the shapes on the lined baking trays, making sure there is plenty of space around each one. Lightly brush them all with the egg.
- Top each pastry shape with a small dollop of mincemeat – be careful not to use too much as it’s easy to overfill them.
- Take the other half of the pastry shapes. Lightly brush each one with egg, and place it, egg side down, on the mincemeat topped pastry. Gently press around the edges to seal.
- Using a small fork, press all around the very edge of each shape to seal further. I’d recommend using a child’s fork if you have one, for the smaller tines.
- Lightly brush the top of each pastry with egg. Using the tip of a small sharp knife, cut a tiny cross into the top of each pastry to allow steam to escape.
- Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until cooked through, puffed up and golden.
For the full recipe and step by step photographic instructions: https://www.eatsamazing.co.uk/christmas/mini-mince-pie-puffs-recipe
Christmas Cookies from the Netherlands. (Kid World Citizen)
- 250 grams (2 cups) self-rising flour (or reg. flour + 1T baking powder and a bit of salt)
- 125 g (3/4 c packed) dark brown sugar
- 2 T “speculaas” spices
- pinch of salt
- 175 g (1.5 sticks) cold butter
- slivered almonds
- 1 egg
Instructions:
- Mix flour, sugar, spices and salt
- Cut butter up and crumble it in the above mixture, forming a smooth dough.
- Let dough rest in the fridge for approx. 30 mins.
- Warm oven to 170 C (340 F). Roll out dough and cut out cookies with a cookie cutter.
- Decorate with almonds.
- Crack egg, whisk with fork. Glaze cookies with egg.
- Put in oven for 20-25 mins.
For the full recipe, and to learn how to make the special “Speculaas” Spices visit: https://kidworldcitizen.org/st-nicholas-visits-the-netherlands-2-christmas-recipes/
Layered Christmas Smoothies from Australia. (My Kids Lick The Bowl)
This simple and scrummy Christmas Smoothie not only looks amazing but also it is a great way to sneak some greens into the mix for your little ones during the festive season!
The Red Layer: a combination of watermelon, strawberries, and raspberries.
The White Layer: milk (you could use a milk alternative if needed) ripe bananas and cashews, I reserved half to make the base of the green layer. (cauliflower can be added to this layer to up the veggie content) The cashews can be skipped if nut free is a requirement
The Green Layer: frozen mango and spinach leaves to the remainder of the white layer mix
Layer them, top with fruit if you wish and boom you are done a festive layered Christmas smoothie.
For the full recipe, visit: https://mykidslickthebowl.com/layered-christmas-smoothies/
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Gallette des Rois from France by Lou Messugo
Ingredients
- 460g puff pastry – either 2 rolls of ready-made pastry or home-made divided into 2 and rolled into thin rounds of approx 30-35cms diametre
- 100g ground almonds
- 75g sugar
- 1 egg (+1 egg yolk, beaten)
- 50g softened butter
- A few drops of almond essence
- 1 fève (small ceramic figurine or a dried broad bean if ceramic figurine not available) + 1 paper crown
Instructions:
- Roll out the bottom pastry onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Prick it with a fork several times.
- Mix all other ingredients except the extra egg yolk in a mixing bowl, beat till thoroughly mixed and creamy. The paste should be quite thick.
- Spread the paste over the pastry, leaving an edge of a couple of centimetres.
- Paint some beaten egg yolk around the edges as “glue” to help stick the top layer of pastry.
- Place the fève (figurine) somewhere not too near the centre.
- Place the second round of pastry over the top and pinch around the edges to stick it firmly closed.
- Prick a few holes and cut a pattern on the top with a knife (if you wish!)
- Paint with the beaten egg yolk to make the pastry beautifully golden.
- Bake at 200°c (fan assisted oven) for approx 25 mins (or until golden, keep an eye on it, all ovens are different).
- Can be served warm or cold.
For the full recipe, step by step photographic instructions and a guide about what to do with the “fève” visit: http://www.loumessugo.com/en/blog/entry/how-to-make-galette-des-rois-traditional-epiphany-cake
Piernik – Gingerbread from Poland (European Mama)
Ginger nut biscuits were a favourite of mine as a child and gingerbread biscuits, in the form of people or houses, are a Christmas tradition in our home. We love the idea of this Polish family recipe from Olga at European Mama and cannot wait to taste it.
Ingredients
- 300g flour
- 75g butter
- half a cup honey
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon strong coffee (I used cocoa powder)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- spices: cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves
- dried fruit (optional)
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- Put the sugar, butter, honey and coffee into a saucepan.
- Cook until the sugar and butter dissolve and remove from the heat.
- While the mixture is still hot, add the flour mixed with the baking soda and spices.
- Mix and let cool.
- Add both eggs, mix well.
- Add the dried fruit (I used a handful of raisins and 5 prunes)
- Butter a bread form and transfer the batter into the form.
- Bake for an hour, 180 centigrades.
For the full recipe and the origins of the recipe visit: http://www.europeanmama.com/polish-gingerbread-piernik-recipe/
Homemade Marzipan biscuits from Spain (PequesRecetas)
Marzipan is a very traditional “dulce” at Christmas time in Spain. We will be testing out this simple and scrummy recipe from Peques Recetas, along with several other Spanish specialities.
For the full recipe in Spanish visit: http://www.pequerecetas.com/receta/mazapan-casero/
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and to see how they turn out …
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A Family Favourite Easy Christmas Recipe For Kids … (in English and Spanish)
Christmas is a great time to get messy in the kitchen with your children. This easy Christmas recipe for kids is one of our family favourites. We still have stains on our kitchen walls (we call them trophies 😉 ) from when the kids were younger and we got messy making these.
The alcoholic tipple is totally an optional extra, it is a good idea to separate the mixture before making a bowl of adults and a bowl of kiddies truffle mixture 😉
The children love getting messy when rolling the mixture into balls …
Let’s make Chocolate Truffles …
Ingredients:
- 300g premium dark chocolate
- 1 large glass of condensed milk
- 1 measure of rum (optional)
- Chocolate sprinkles to decorate
The steps …
- Break the chocolate bar into pieces and melt it in a glass bowl, in a pan of boiling water.
- Once the chocolate had melted completely, add the condensed milk.
- Mix the condensed milk into the melted chocolate and then add your choice of alcoholic tipple.
- The mixture is very runny but it hardens as it cools down. (You can leave the mixture overnight.)
- The following day it is easy to roll into balls … without getting too messy! The kids will love this!
- Use a teaspoon to measure the mixture and roll into small balls.
- Cover in chocolate sprinkles.
You can choose other coverings apart from the chocolate sprinkles
For example…
- crushed flake
- hundreds and thousands
- desiccated coconut
- strawberry crystals
Hacemos Trufas de Chocolate …
Ingredientes
- 1 pastilla chocolate (approx) 300g
- 1 vaso grande de leche condensada
- 1 chorrito de ron (opcional)
- Fideos de chocolate
Los pasos:
- Romper la barra de chocolate en trozos. Derretir en un recipiente de vidrio dentro de una olla de agua hirviendo.
- Una vez que el chocolate se haya derretido completamente, agregar la leche condensada.
- Mezclar la leche condensada en el chocolate derretido y luego agregar su opción de bebida alcohólica.
- La mezcla es muy líquida pero se endurece a medida que se enfría. (Se puede dejar la mezcla durante la noche.)
- Al día siguiente es fácil de rodar en las bolas … ¡sin ensuciarse demasiado! A los niños, les van a encantar!
- Utilizar una cucharadita para medir la mezcla y luego rodar la mezcla en bolas pequeñas.
- Cubrir las bolitas en fideos de chocolate
Nota: Se puede usar todo tipo de fideos para adornar.
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Read all about Spanish Christmas traditions here …
Chocolate Truffles …
Ingredients:
- 300 g premium dark chocolate
- 1 large glass of condensed milk
- 1 measure of rum optional
- Chocolate sprinkles to decorate
The steps …
Break the chocolate bar into pieces and melt it in a glass bowl, in a pan of boiling water.
Once the chocolate had melted completely, add the condensed milk.
Mix the condensed milk into the melted chocolate and then add your choice of alcoholic tipple.
The mixture is very runny but it hardens as it cools down. (You can leave the mixture overnight.)
The following day it is easy to roll into balls … without getting too messy! The kids will love this!
Use a teaspoon to measure the mixture and roll into small balls.
Cover in chocolate sprinkles.
Note: You can choose other coverings apart from the chocolate sprinkles For example… crushed flake hundreds and thousands desiccated coconut strawberry crystals
A Simple and Scrummy Recipe for Cooking With Young Kids …
My name is Bethany and I’m here to share a recipe with you all at Cooking with Languages. I love to cook and bake, so I started doing “cooking classes” with my kids (ages 2 and 4), experimenting with simple recipes, and documenting with pictures of the toddlers in action. I love how cooking can be an amazing learning experience in so many ways!
COOKING WITH YOUNG KIDS (ages 1-5)
If you are making this with the youngest age of chef, I find that having success depends on preparation! For this recipe, I’d recommend the adult prepping by…
- Chopping the baguette.
- Mixing the olive oil with garlic and pepper.
- Draining and rinsing the cannellini beans.
- Dicing the tomatoes.
- Slicing the fresh basil into thin ribbons.
Now, your child can focus on these REALLY FUN KITCHEN TASKS!
- Painting the baguette rounds with olive oil mixture.
- Mashing the cannellini beans.
- Mixing the diced tomatoes with the rest of the list.
- Perhaps spreading the beans onto the baguettes.
- Piling the tomato mixture on top!
USING OUR SENSES
One really fun moment during this recipe was while mixing the tomatoes in with the rest of the topping ingredients. I asked my four-year-old to smell each ingredient as he added it – the balsamic vinegar, the fresh basil, the parmesan cheese, pepper and salt, and the garlic.
My 4-year-old can be extremely picky so I think it’s awesome that while he’s helping make something he can experience some ingredients that he’d never eat in other ways, by touching or smelling them!
YOU WILL NEED
- 1/2 baguette
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced, divided in half
- 1/4 tsp black pepper, ground, divided in half
- 1 15 oz can cannellini beans (white kidney beans), drained and rinsed
- 2 large globe tomatoes, diced
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tbsp fresh basil chiffonade (thin ribbons)
- 1 Tbsp parmesan cheese, grated
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LET’S GET STARTED!
Preheat oven to 375F/190C.
Slice your baguette into 1/2 inch slices and place on a baking sheet in a single layer.
Mix olive oil, half the garlic, and 1/8 tsp pepper in a small bowl.
Brush olive oil mixture onto baguette rounds using a pastry brush.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Mash cannellini beans with a fork then set aside.
In a bowl, combine diced tomatoes, salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, balsamic vinegar, remaining garlic, fresh basil and parmesan cheese.
Spread a thin layer of mashed beans onto each baked baguette. Top each bean layer with 2 Tbsp of tomato mixture.
Enjoy!
I must say these were incredibly delicious! I couldn’t get enough! These would make a great appetizer, side or a light dinner.
Recipe credit goes to Tulane University’s Culinary Medicine website – where you can find all sorts of resources including healthy and simple recipes to make at home with your kids.
KEEPIN’ IT REAL
And here is my real life mess after we devoured these for dinner! While I try to create beautiful pictures of the kids cooking, reality is quite a bit messier – and there are always dishes to be done! My kids enjoyed the cooking process but didn’t try the finished product (that’s pretty typical at our house). They enjoyed plain baguettes with butter.
For more simple recipes to make with young chefs, follow along with us!
Printable Recipe …
Tomato and White Bean Bruschetta
YOU WILL NEED
- 1/2 baguette
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic minced, divided in half
- 1/4 tsp black pepper ground, divided in half
- 1 15 oz can cannellini beans white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 large globe tomatoes diced
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tbsp fresh basil chiffonade thin ribbons
- 1 Tbsp parmesan cheese grated
LET'S GET STARTED!
Preheat oven to 375F/190C.
Slice your baguette into 1/2 inch slices and place on a baking sheet in a single layer.
Mix olive oil, half the garlic, and 1/8 tsp pepper in a small bowl.
Brush olive oil mixture onto baguette rounds using a pastry brush.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Mash cannellini beans with a fork then set aside.
In a bowl, combine diced tomatoes, salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, balsamic vinegar, remaining garlic, fresh basil and parmesan cheese.
Spread a thin layer of mashed beans onto each baked baguette.
Top each bean layer with 2 Tbsp of tomato mixture.
These crunchy yet creamy gluten free croquettes make a lovely snack or can be served with a dipping sauce to make an enticing starter or canapé.
All ages love these mushy centered croquettes enclosed in a crispy breadcrumb.
You can make with any filling you can imagine, instead of ham try using left over chicken and vegetables, smoked haddock and parmesan, red pepper and goats cheese, simple ham and peas; or whatever combination you can dream up.
You can always double the ingredients and keep them in the freezer for a mid-week snack.
Get ready and tuck into this yummy gluten free ham, herb, and cheese croquette recipe.
Makes around 20. 45 min prep – 45 min prep +3 hours chilling
Ingredients:
50g unsalted butter, room temperature
150g buckwheat flour (for cooking)
350g almond milk*
100g chicken stock (can be substituted with 100g milk) 80g Serrano ham, chopped
60g manchego cheese, grated
60g cheddar cheese, grated
15g mixed herbs, roughly chopped. (we used fresh parsley, oregano, and basil)
Breadcrumbs mix
100g gluten free whole grain bread or bought bread crumbs 10g flax seeds
15g gluten free oats
Breadcrumb coating
80g buckwheat flour
2 medium eggs, lightly beaten
*Almond milk can be substituted with any nut milk, whole milk or semi-skimmed milk
Method
1 – Create the inner croquettes
Melt the butter in a large pan.
Add in 150g of the flour.
With a fork, stir well and thoroughly incorporated into a thick paste.
Cook for 1-2 minutes until the paste smells nutty.
Slowly pour in the stock and milk, continuously whisking, to form another thick paste. Stir in the cheese, then the ham and incorporated.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
2 – Allow to chill
Scrape the croquette mix into a bowl and set aside in the fridge. Chill for 2-3 hours before creating the croquette logs.
3 – Breadcrumbs mix and coating
If using bread, break into small pieces.
In a blender add in the bread, flax seeds, and oats. Pluses until you have a fine breadcrumb.
Empty the breadcrumbs into a shallow plate or bowl.
4 – Get ready
You will need 2 more shallow plates or bowls. In 1, add the eggs.
In another add the 80g of remaining buckwheat flour.
You will now have 3 dipping plates, 1 x flour 1 x eggs, 1x breadcrumbs.
5 – Create the shapes
Here is an excellent opportunity to get your children involved.
Your hands will get sticky so have a bowl or water at the side and some clean paper towels.
Remove the chilled mix from the fridge.
Take a heaped table spoon of mixture (about 25g)
Shape into a small log.
Dip and roll the croquet log in the flour.
With the other hand, dip it into the egg.
Passing hands again, coat it in the breadcrumbs. Place each croquet onto a baking tray.
Repeat this process until the mixture is finished.
Place the baking tray into a freezer for 10 minutes to firm up.
6 – Freeze them?
At this point, you can freeze the croquettes or bake and enjoy them. If freezing, keep on the baking tray until frozen
Transfer to freezer bags and keep for up to 3 months.
7 – Eat them
If cooking, preheat your oven to 200°C / 392°F (Fan) 220°C / 428°F (Conventional) Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden-brown
The croquettes will have a lovely, crunchy yet gooey centre.
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Gluten free ham, herb and cheese wonders nuggets.
Prep Time 45 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Total Time 1 hr 5 mins
Course Snacks, Starter
Cuisine Gluten free, International
- 50 grams Butter at room temperature
- 150 grams Buckwheat flour for cooking
- 350 fl oz Almond Milk can be substituted with any nut milk, whole milk or semi-skimmed milk
- 100 grams Chicken stock can be substituted with 100g milk
- 80 grams Serrano ham chopped
- 60 grams Manchego cheese grated
- 60 grams Cheddar cheese grated
- 15 grams Mixed herbs roughly chopped. (we used fresh parsley, oregano, and basil)
Breadcrumbs Mix
- 100 grams Gluten free whole grain bread or bought bread crumbs
- 10 grams Flax seeds
- 15 grams Gluten free oats
Breadcrumb coating
- 80 grams Buckwheat flour
- 2 meduim Eggs lightly beaten
Melt the butter in a large pan.
Add in 150g of the flour.
With a fork, stir well and thoroughly incorporated into a thick paste.
Cook for 1-2 minutes until the paste smells nutty.
Slowly pour in the stock and milk, continuously whisking, to form another thick paste. Stir in the cheese, then the ham and incorporated.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Allow to chill
Scrape the croquette mix into a bowl and set aside in the fridge. Chill for 2-3 hours before creating the croquette logs.
Breadcrumbs mix and coating
If using bread, break into small pieces.
In a blender add in the bread, flax seeds, and oats. Pluses until you have a fine breadcrumb.
Empty the breadcrumbs into a shallow plate or bowl.
Get ready
You will need 2 more shallow plates or bowls. In 1, add the eggs.
In another add the 80g of remaining buckwheat flour.
You will now have 3 dipping plates, 1 x flour 1 x eggs, 1x breadcrumbs.
Here is an excellent opportunity to get your children involved.
Your hands will get sticky so have a bowl or water at the side and some clean paper towels.
Remove the chilled mix from the fridge.
Take a heaped table spoon of mixture (about 25g)
Shape into a small log.
Dip and roll the croquet log in the flour.
With the other hand, dip it into the egg.
Passing hands again, coat it in the breadcrumbs. Place each croquet onto a baking tray.
Repeat this process until the mixture is finished.
Place the baking tray into a freezer for 10 minutes to firm up.
At this point, you can freeze the croquettes or bake and enjoy them. If freezing, keep on the baking tray until frozen
Transfer to freezer bags and keep for up to 3 months.
If cooking, preheat your oven to 200°C / 392°F (Fan) 220°C / 428°F (Conventional) Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden-brown
The croquettes will have a lovely, crunchy yet gooey centre.
SHARE YOUR SIMPLE AND SCRUMMY FAMILY FAVOURITE RECIPE WITH US AND WE’LL PUBLISH IT ON OUR BLOG!!!And we’ll teach you some new words too 😉 Contact us now!
Get your kids in the kitchen and watch them grow!
It’s time to get your kids in the kitchen!
Young children love to copy what other people are doing. They gain great pleasure out of helping their parents wash the car, tidy up or even put the shopping away. A positive way to put this curiosity to good use and satisfy their inquisitive minds is by teaching them a new language whilst performing theses activities.
Get your kids in the kitchen and they can bake cakes, make pasta or play with pastry dough while you feed their mind with new words.
By having fun getting messy in the kitchen, they won’t actually realise they are being taught a new language.
Learning a language often means learning by rote and repetition, as words and phrases need to be repeated to be remembered. But repetition does not have to be boring. Making the experience fun helps to keep young learners curious and keen to carry on.
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Children are sponges. They are easily excitable. When they are excited and interested in something they absorb more. They learn without realising.
No matter what age your child is, they can have fun learning languages through cooking or simply playing with food.
Children use all of their senses while cooking. By helping them learn to cook and to know about food, you help them to be more comfortable with different foods and can even make them healthier eaters.
Pressuring young children to eat vegetables at the dinner table is known to be counterproductive – it actually increases resistance to healthy foods.
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In a nutshell, kids like what they know and they eat what they like. So, making food and cooking fun has many benefits.
In addition to using food and cooking for learning languages, you can use them to help with:
- Improving motor skills in younger children: start with soft foods that they can add/mix/grate/cut with plastic scissors or child-friendly knives …
- Mathematical skills: from number recognition, basic sums, to learning weights and measures,
- Reading and comprehension: encourage your child to read the recipe to you, ask them questions that spark their imagination eg. How do they think the food will look? Taste? smell?
- Telling the time and measuring time
- Boosting vocabulary: ingredients, using descriptive words to describe how food looks, smells and sounds while it’s cooking,
Children, of all ages, have fun while using all five senses which is why cooking is so entertaining. First, they’ll be using their eyes to find ingredients and read the recipe. Then they will be touching the food as they chop it or mix it. After that comes the sound of the cooking as the food sizzles, bubbles or makes a popping noise. This gives off the lovely smells which help to get the mouth watering as they finally get to taste their delicious dishes.
As well as new words, you can introduce some simple maths while you cook. Your children can weigh out ingredients on the scales or use measurements such as litres and grams. If rolling out pastry or pasta, they’ll need a ruler to measure the length too. They’ll be learning to tell the time as they stir the pot for two minutes or bake a cake for 40 minutes, for example.
Then there are the words they will use. It’s not just learning about ingredients but they will be boosting their vocabulary with new verbs such as basting, boiling, rolling or roasting; and adding adjectives like bitter, sweet, delicious, juicy, salty, smooth or lumpy. You can encourage them to communicate by asking them how the food feels or to describe how it tastes.
By getting children involved in the cooking process, it’s a sneaky way to get them to try new things. If they’ve cooked it, they’ll want to try it so think about introducing different ingredients or spices as you go along. Hopefully, this will encourage them to be more experimental with flavours. Most children go through a fussy eating stage but getting them to help prepare the family meals can be one way to get them to taste new foods. They’ll feel proud and excited at helping and should be more likely to eat something they’ve helped to make, especially if you say how yummy it looks.
To sum up, children can learn new words, a new language, simple maths, the time and communication skills by helping prepare a meal. Bearing that in mind, we think cooking with children is a fun way to teach while you also get a little helper in the kitchen. Now, we just have to persuade them that washing up is a great game to play too!
Try these simple activities, in your target language, for starters…
(These ideas can be adapted to whatever language you are introducing.)
- Using your fruit bowl …
- Can you name the fruits in your bowl?
- What colour are they?
- How many are there?
- What do they smell like?
- What do they feel like?
- Open your cutlery drawer …
- Can you name each utensil?
- How many are there of each item?
- What is each item used for?
- Create stickies (and if you are artistic, add drawings too) of Kitchen items …
- E.g. fridge, freezer, sink, cupboard, drawer, tea towel, dishcloth …
4. Play the “hot/cold” game …
- The idea is that your child has to guess which word (in the target languages) is the correct name for the items in your kitchen. As they get closer to the item, you say “hotter” (in your target language) and as the move further away you say “colder” (in your target language)
5. Use out Activity Cookbook
- If your target language is Spanish or English, choose one of the recipes from our Activity Cookbook and work together with your child.
- Before you start cooking:
- Look at the ingredients, practice the words together (listen to the audio on our website for help)
- Make a shopping list together, for the required ingredients
- Visit the supermarket and purchase the ingredients, with your child, repeating the words and quantities as shown in our book
- When you are ready to cook:
- Tell your child (in the target language) what they need to get ready, item by item (using the book for reference)
- From the fridge, we need …..
- From the cupboard, we need …
- Follow the instructions, step by step and make the simple and scrummy recipes.
- Practice phrases and expressions to say what you love, like, don’t like …
There are so many ways how children learn a language in the kitchen, these are just a few simple ideas. We have many more to share with you!
Introducing Arthur Apple’s Pancake Challenge! Designed to get Kids in the Kitchen and Learning New Languages!
We have a simple and scrummy recipe to share with you. It is really easy to follow.
This is one of the recipes in our Activity Cookbook that we funded thanks to YOU on Crowdfunder.
Ingredients
125gr plain flour
1 egg
250ml milk
Salt
Your favourite fillings: sugar, lemon, Nutella, fresh fruit, honey…
How to make the pancakes …
- Sieve the flour and a pinch of salt into a large bowl.
- Make a hole in the centre of the flour and add the egg and some milk.
- Whisk all the ingredients together until you have a smooth liquid.
- Add the remaining milk and whisk again.
How to cook the pancakes…
- Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan.
- Remove the excess oil before adding the pancake mix.
- Add a large spoon of mix to the frying pan and spread it over the base (the easiest way is to rotate the frying pan slowly).
- As the pancake sets, loosen it with a spatula and flip over (use a plate if you are not confident flipping).
Arthur’s Perfect Pancake Tips:
- For skinny French style pancakes, make sure your mixture is nice and runny.ie. add lots of the milk
- For fatter American style pancakes, use less milk to make a thicker mixture.
- BEFORE entering the Pancake Challenge, experiment with the mixture to get your best pancake.
- Loosen the pancake with a spatula before flipping.
- HAVE FUN!!!!
How Do You Enter Arthur Apple’s Pancake Challenge?
- Once you have perfected the art of making simple and scrummy pancakes, you need to practice flipping them.
- For the challenge, you can flip your pancakes wherever you like … in the kitchen, in your garden, on the beach, in the snow … let your imagination run wild!
- When you are ready, ask somebody to video you flipping your pancake, as many times as you can.
- At the start of your video, tell us your name, age and where you are from.
- Count out loud, in whatever language you can speak, whilst flipping your pancakes.
- Post your video to our Cooking with Languages Facebook Page (Pop over to the page and see the wonderful video Bodhi and Himani sent to us!)
What other ideas do you have for using food and cooking for introducing new languages?
We’d love to share your ideas on our Facebook page and here on our website.
