There’s nothing like the smell of hot apple cider simmering on the stovetop or the coziness of gingerbread baking in the oven during the holiday season! The kitchen is definitely the place to be during this time of the year. Getting the family together to cook and bake those traditional recipes can be so special.
Have you ever wondered how to include your little ones in the holiday cooking process? It is always a sight to see when kids start decorating cookies, building gingerbread houses, and enjoying treats, but there are also so many other ways for them to get creative in the kitchen with simple and healthy recipes. It can be stressful when a bunch of sticky, frosted fingers are all over the cabinets and drawers, so here are some ways to keep your kids busy in the kitchen this holiday season:
- Festive Frozen Yogurt Bark – This is one of the best healthy dessert options where your kids can truly make a mess. Choose any greek yogurt that you like. Have the kids spread it over a lined baking sheet. Have them get creative with different shapes like wreaths or ornaments! Next, have chopped red and green fruit ready (or have them chop it with kid friendly plastic knives). The fruit can be frozen, fresh, or dried. Let them add whatever other toppings they like including chocolate chips, seeds, honey, etc. Last up – freeze it until it is completely solid (about 4 hours). Store it in a sealed container or bag in the freezer to keep fresh!
- Fruit Santa Hats – These are a great and creative snack for holiday parties. You can use strawberries, grapes, bananas, and mini marshmallows to make these! Cut the tops of the strawberries, slice bananas, and keep grapes whole (chop if kids are younger). Use toothpicks and have the kids create their own. Some tips include using the grapes or a larger piece of banana for a face, using the strawberries and/or banana for the base of the hat, and using the marshmallow for the top of the hat. Feel free to add candy or dried fruit to make a face!
- Christmas Tree Snack Plates – This is basically like a kid’s charcuterie board, but way cuter! Have the kids slice cucumbers and create a tree on a plate. Use a cracker for the tree trunk. This is the part where they can get as creative as they want with ingredients. Carrots, slices olives, cheese shreds, pomegranate seeds, mandarins, blueberries, and raspberries are just a handful of ideas they can use to decorate the edible tree! You can also have them use small shape cutters on largers fruits/vegetables to create the ornaments and lights!
- Chocolate Snowballs – You could consider this a healthy way to create a sweet treat for kids and even adults! Chocolate snowballs can be customized in many ways. The best part about this recipe is that the main ingredient is dates! Yep, you heard it right. All you need is dates (chopped up), desiccated coconut, cinnamon, ginger, dried fruit of your choice, and nuts/seeds of your choice! The kids can place all the ingredients, except the desiccated coconut, into a food processor and watch the mixture blend together. Then, allow them to roll the mixture into balls on a hard surface. Once the balls are made, lay out the desiccated coconut for them to roll as a snow topping until fully covered! Chill them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and enjoy!
- Holiday Trail Mix – If you are looking for a holiday recipe that allows your kids to eat easy on-the-go, or something to put in cute packaging for another family, look no further than a holiday-themed trail mix! The best approach for this is to put a bunch of different ingredients out on the table, and allow your kids to build their own in bags or containers. Some different ideas for ingredients include dark chocolate red and green M&M’s, yogurt covered raisins, dried coconut, nuts, seeds, dried cranberries, banana chips, dried apples, and much more! This snack can be fiber filled and contain healthy fats!
Now that you have some holiday ideas in front of you, let your kids start a festive creative mess this season!