It's the 12 Months of Montessori and today I'm excited to share simple recipes that your kids (with your assistance) can try at home. These are so easy to prepare and will help our little ones develop and improve fine motor and practical life skills.

Simple Food Preparation and Recipe Ideas for Kids

PIZZA

Skills: chopping, hand-eye coordination, grating

Age: 2 years and older

Simple Food Preparation and Recipe Ideas for Kids: PIZZA

This is our go to! Just buy some ready made pizza dough in the grocery and get yourselves some sliced ham and pepperoni, pizza sauce and cheese. Let your child grate the cheese if they are capable or buy grated cheese as an alternative. This is the kind of food that kids can make independently, from putting the sauce and working on all the toppings. The oven work is of course for grown ups only.

FRUIT SMOOTHIE

Skills: Cutting, pouring, measuring, scooping

Age: 4yrs and older

Simple Food Preparation and Recipe Ideas for Kids: FRUIT SMOOTHIE

Our favorite smoothie recipe is the one with strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. I let my kids chop the strawberries into smaller pieces and have them dump the fruits inside the Ninja Blender. Then add one cup of coconut juice, sugar (one tablespoon), 1/2 cup of milk and one small tub of Greek yogurt into your fruits then blend! For younger kids, make sure grown ups are there to assist in using the blender.

BRUSCHETTA

Skills: Cutting, mixing

Age: 4 years and up

You need cherry tomatoes, basil, small garlic, cheddar cheese, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. We use our Ninja Food Chopper to do the chopping work because the kids love to operate this. But pre-cutting the tomatoes and basil is needed and this is where your little ones can help. Mix olive oil and balsamic vinegar on your chopped tomatoes and grated cheddar cheese. For more details you can follow the procedure and recipe here.

THAI SALAD DRESSING

Skills: pressing, cutting, squeezing

Age: 5yrs and older

Simple Food Preparation and Recipe Ideas for Kids: THAI SALAD DRESSING

I love chicken and beef Thai salad and we try to make our own dressing at home and the recipe is from this website. The child will usually work on grinding the cilantro, garlic, lime, and mint. Then, I do the cutting of chili (don't allow your little ones to cut this one). Pour the chopped spices in the the mortar and pestle. Then mince mince mince! My boy enjoys all the mincing work using the mortar and pestle! When done, squeezed some lime juice on the mortar, add some fish sauce and sugar and you are done with the dressing! For more details follow the instructions from this site on how to make the chicken or beef salad.

And that's basically how we can encourage or introduce our little ones to cook with us. Use fun kitchen tools and always invite them to give you a hand. These are SOME of the foods that the kids love preparing at home because they are so easy to prepare and the recipes are simple. I love seeing them being proud of what they have accomplished. The kitchen is the shelf work of practical life and we should take advantage of that!

This post is part of the 12 Months More of Montessori which is hosted by Natural Beach Living and The Natural Homeschool.