Ruth Chubb
Owner of Three Bears Cookery Club
Bahee Van de Bor
Children’s Dietitian
“Would you like top tips for baking with your toddler? Then you will love this blog post from Ruth Chubb owner of Three Bears Cookery Club. Keep reading to find out her tips.”
Cooking with your toddler plays such an important part in their development, here are a few ways
- it encourages them to explore new tastes and textures even for the fussy eaters!
- Encouraging them to help you weigh out the ingredients can help develop their independence plus early literacy & maths skills by following the recipe together and talking through each step.
- Making them feel involved and excited about what you are going to make.
- Pouring, stirring, dividing mixture between cupcake cases develops their hand-eye coordination. Don’t worry if it’s a bit messy you can give it a wipe afterwards!
- If you are making cupcake why not let their imaginations run wild and let them decorate them or if it’s a bigger cake talk about ideas on how you are going to decorate it when its cooled down.
Stuck for ideas? Here is a simple milk and gluten-free recipe that you can follow to help you apply the top tips shared above;
Try these top tips to make your baking stress free!
01
Get organised
Get all the ingredients, utensils, baking trays etc. out before you start so you are not routing around the cupboards looking for items and then your toddler will get bored! Ask them to help set all the ingredients and play a little game as to what they think you might need.
02
Get messy
Most toddlers love getting their hands messy so instead of a spoon let them get stuck in rubbing the butter and flour together!
03
Seize your moment
Set them up at a suitable table they can reach and sit down with them to do it. Get them excited about what you are going to make and ask them to think what it will taste like when it is ready!
04
Break down the recipe
Breaking the recipe down into simple steps helps too, so make sure it is something simple or a recipe that you are familiar making.
05
Delegate tasks
For each step tell them how much you need and get them to help you weigh the ingredients out. I think letting them spoon the flour onto the scales gives them a feeling of independence; that they are doing it and mummy is helping!
06
Ingredients
Ask them about the ingredients. For example, ask them if they know what it is and where they think it comes from? What do you think we need to put in next?
07
Tidy up time
Finally, there will be a mess and it will take longer than if you were to do it yourself, but the mess can be cleaned up afterwards, you could even encourage your little one to help with the tidying up while you are waiting for it to bake!
Most importantly enjoy the time with your little one and how proud they are going to be when their masterpiece is finished.
“Do you struggle with dairy free or gluten free baking? Watch the Facebook Live where Ruth Chubb shares fantastic tips on how to get your gluten free bread to rise and tips on perfecting your gluten free pizza base.”
Let's get baking! Your dairy, milk free and gluten-free baking tips shared here!
Posted by UK Kids Nutrition by Bahee Van de Bor on Tuesday, July 3, 2018
For detailed advice regarding your child’s special diet book to see me at one of my private London clinics.
