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While some children enjoy their mealtime, others may be fussy with their food. They play, get deviated, talk or watch TV while eating to deviate themselves from eating. To avoid such situations, you can get them involved in cooking. Playing cooking games for kids can help tickle their taste buds. As they learn more about different flavors and textures, they tend to start enjoying the cooking process.
Here are some of the best cooking games for kids. Even the fussiest eaters may want to try out new recipes with these games.
15 Cooking Games For Kids
All the games listed here are safe for children. But before trying cooking games for kids, you may want to check if your child has any food allergies and take necessary precautions.
1. Blind taste test
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This game helps children focus on their taste buds and appreciate various flavors and textures.
How to play
- Put various dishes on a table.
- Blindfold a player.
- Let the other players feed a spoon from each dish.
- The blindfolded player has to guess the name of the food.
- Older children can give clues to help.
- Every player gets to taste three dishes.
- Continue the same with all the players.
Did you know?2. Eat the alphabet
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If you have pre-schoolers who are just learning the alphabet, try this game.
How to play
- Pick a letter for the day.
- Let children name food items beginning with that letter and also eat them.
- For example, if the letter is ‘A’ they have to eat apples, avocados, anchovies, almonds, etc.
3. The tasting game
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This simple game helps children understand the taste of individual ingredients used for cooking.
How to play
- Place a few small plastic bowls in a row.
- Put a different ingredient in each bowl.
- Now let the children taste items from each bowl.
- You can use various ingredients, including salt, pepper, paprika (keep some milk or bread handy if your child cannot handle spicy foods), honey, sugar, turmeric, lemon juice, and so on.
4. Pasta relay
If your child enjoys running around, this game is great for them to associate play with tasty food.
How to play
- Divide players into two teams.
- Place an empty bowl in front of each team.
- On the opposite side of the room, place two bowls filled with dry cooked pasta.
- Each team gets a ladle.
- When the game begins, the first players in line must run to the bowls filled with pasta, scoop out one ladle of pasta, and run back to the empty bowl.
- Then they pass the ladle to the next player.
- This game continues for three minutes or until the bowl goes empty.
- Whichever team fills the most amount of pasta in their bowl wins.
- Both teams get to eat the pasta after the game.
5. Cooking math
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If your child is in primary school and is learning math concepts such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, etc., you can teach the same using foods.
How to play
- Get a plastic cake that can be cut into slices and attached back using Velcro strips.
- Let the children count the number of slices on the cake.
- Then cut each slice and tell them how it is represented in the fractions.
- You could also teach concepts of addition and subtraction with this game.
6. Boiled eggs
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Teach your child how to boil an egg with this simple game.
How to play
- Place eggs in different bowls and put them on the hob.
- Let your child track each bowl’s temperature and time.
- Once done, cool, peel, and cut the eggs.
- Now, let them understand the temperature and time taken by the best and worst cooked eggs.
7. Measure and guess
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Make the cooking process a lot more entertaining with this game.
How to play
- Decide a food item to cook or bake.
- Measure out the ingredients and place them in different bowls.
- Let the children guess the amount of each ingredient.
- For example, if you are baking a cake, let your child guess how many cups of flour or eggs you have measured out.
8. Measure up
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This is a fun variation of the ‘Measure and Guess’ game.
How to play
- Decide the dish you wish to cook or bake.
- Layout all the ingredients you will need for the dish on your counter.
- Let the children guess the amount of each ingredient you will need for the dish.
- You may put out some ingredients you will not need as well to confuse the players.
- Reward them with may be a candy when the guess is right. And if they go wrong, then correct them and explain the right measurements.
9. What can you eat?
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This game for pre-schoolers helps them understand what is edible and what is not.
How to play
- Get some flashcards printed with some images from the internet. Pick images that have both food and non-food items.
- Show these flashcards to children, one after the other.
- They have to say whether they can eat the item on the card or not.
- If you do not want to print flashcards, you may simply write a list of food and non-food items on a sheet of paper and read out the names one by one.
- You may include any foods, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, insects, shoes, socks, meat, chicken, etc.
Do remember10. Cookie cutter hunt
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This is similar to a regular scavenger hunt but includes only cookie cutters. The game ends with freshly baked cookies for everyone. Win-win for all!
How to play
- Hide several cookie cutters at random places in your home.
- Give the children some clues. For example, for a star-shaped cookie cutter, you can write, “The cookie-cutter that twinkles in the sky.”
- Let the children collect all the cookie cutters.
- Then give them some cookie dough to roll out and cut with their cookie cutters.
- Finally, bake all the cookies and enjoy them.
11. Superhero food
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Ever heard of superhero foods? Try this fun game!
How to play
- Mix all the ingredients you will need for a dish and cook it.
- Give it a superhero name. For example, you can name blueberry muffins ‘Captain America’ or strawberry cake ‘Iron Man.’ You can also add spinach or other greens to bread and muffins and name them ‘Hulk.’
12. Bread in a bag
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Baking a loaf of bread can be an activity that everyone in the family can enjoy.
How to play
- Add all the ingredients for making bread in a zip lock bag and mix them.
- Knead, divide into loaf pans, and bake.
- You can bake them in any shape you like.
13. Table setting game
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What follows cooking? Eating at a neat and tidy dining table. Isn’t it? Yes, the table setting is also an important part of preparing food.
How to play
- Divide the players into two teams.
- Let each team take one side of the table.
- Layout all the cutlery on the counter.
- Set a timer of one minute and let each team decorate the table as they like.
14. Recipe scramble
Ideal for older kids, this game can help your kids learn cooking and improve their logical skills.
How to play
- Divide the children into two teams.
- Give each team a recipe written with the name of the ingredients scrambled.
- Next, the teams have to decipher the names of the ingredients.
- Once they have the unscrambled list, they have to collect the ingredients and cook the dish.
15. Invent a recipe
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What is better than letting the children use their imagination to create their own recipes?
How to play
- Go to the kitchen and explain various ingredients used in everyday cooking.
- Let the children put these ingredients together in any combination they want.
- Help them cook their signature dish.
- Taste and validate the dish with your child.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Are cooking games safe for children to play?
Yes, as long as they are played with parental supervision, cooking games are safe to play. Special attention must be given when children use the stove, knives, or other kitchen appliances while playing.
2. What age is appropriate for children to start playing cooking games?
Children older than five years can be involved in playing cooking games.
3. Are cooking games educational?
Yes, cooking games may teach children about various foods, their nutritional benefits, the seasons in which they grow, cooking measurements, and food safety and storage.
4. Are cooking games a good way to bond with children?
Cooking games are a great way to bond with children. These activities can encourage communication, promote learning new things, and teach children to share and cooperate in teams.
Children can be fussy and picky when it comes to eating, but when you engage them in cooking, they may eventually enjoy a variety of tastes. So, choose from these cooking games for kids to let them explore the process of preparing, collecting, and baking or cooking dishes. Whether counting or guessing games, measuring games, tasting foods, or inventing new recipes, these games will surely enhance your child’s interest in the culinary world. Furthermore, you may also include these games in family get-togethers or casual dinners with friends.
Key Pointers
- Allowing your child to taste various ingredients, including sugar, lemon, honey, and so on, can be both entertaining and informative.
- When you cook or bake, let your child measure the ingredients.
- Turn a regular scavenger hunt into a cookie-cutter hunting game.
