Kids in the Kitchen: Kid-Friendly Sweets!

Hey everyone!

One of our readers asked us for dessert recipes that she can make with her grandkids when they come over to visit. Although I don’t have any kids of my own, I’ve spent enough time with my own younger relatives and my friends’ children to know that there are a few things you should always keep in mind when you’re working with kids in the kitchen:

• Look for interesting recipes. Kids typically have a short attention span. If they’re not interested in the final result, they probably won’t be interested in helping out.
• Keep tasks age-appropriate. You wouldn’t give a 3 year-old (yes, even 3-year old’s can help!) a knife, but you may feel comfortable with having your 10-year old cut some of the ingredients.
• Find recipes that use shortcut methods since you’re probably going to need extra time. This goes hand-in-hand with our first tip. Since kids usually like to move on to other things pretty quickly, finding a recipe that’s uses shortcut ingredients or methods can move the recipe along before the kids get bored.
• Be flexible. Sometimes kids want to switch something out that they don’t like. Don’t make it a big deal and… 
• Make it fun. Play a little music, make up silly words for directions, or make funny faces with your ingredients! When working with kids, you can’t expect perfection. If you don’t make it fun they may not want to help out again. By the way, fun can be educational too!
• Keep calm about messes. Try to keep relaxed if you see flour everywhere or chocolate covered fingerprints on the fridge handle. You can worry about the clean-up later (maybe a new “fun” task for you to do together!)

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I thought I’d share some fresh ideas for making dessert when you’ve got kids in the kitchen. All of these recipes use fresh, frozen or refrigerated, ingredients (like frozen fruit!) to make your sweetest dreams come to life! Just imagine the ease of getting most of your ingredients right from the freezer case! Best part? Kids will love making them, and you’ll love spending quality time with them in the kitchen!

Here are just a few of the fresh and healthy dessert ideas you can make with your kids! 

Strawberry Banana Smoothies

Orange and Cream Pops

Strawberry Pretzel Bars

Check out this great fruit pizza I found on the Life is Beautiful blog! (I’ve even seen some people make this on a slice of watermelon!)

Or these easy-to-make Frozen Yogurt-Covered Blueberry Kabobs from One Good Thing By Jillee!

If you’re looking for something a little more decadent, but still want the kid-friendly shortcuts, you’ll love these recipes!:

Ice Cream Garden

Dirt Cups

Stuffed Donuts

Our Own Donuts

Watermelon Ice Cream Bombe

Of course there are also a ton of awesome options over at Easy Home Meals. Some that I think kids would totally love are:

 

Okay, just one more, I promise! What kid doesn’t love chocolate chip cookies? And these are bite-sized and easy, which make them perfect for little helping hands! Mini Cookie-Stuffed Pies

I hope you all enjoy making these sweet treats with your kids! If you have any other great kid-friendly desserts you’d like to share with us, or if you have any other tips you think I may have missed, please let me know in the comments below! 

Thanks for reading!