18 Recipes That'll Help Your Kids Learn In The Kitchen

If your kids think chicken nuggets come out of a box, teach them the food's real roots. Show them the chopping, breading, and baking steps—and get the result on the table in less than an hour.

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Let your little ones identify all the letters in their names, then help you cut them out of pizza dough. The rest of the steps are all kid-friendly, too: adding sauce, cheese, and toppings.

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Adults should handle cutting and coring the apples, but the kids can take it from there. Get creative with toddlers and ask them to correctly label the circular shape.

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This one is sure to be enjoyed equally by both adults and children. It's the simplest marinara sauce imaginable and kids will relish being a part of the process. Let them tear basil leaves and sprinkle parmesan. Older children can also be put on pasta duty, where they'll learn how to boil water and (safely) drop the noodles into the pot.

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These cute lil' cookies are an excellent vehicle to lead to important discussions about other cultures, countries, and the environment. (Earth Day is April 22, by the way!)

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Utilize chicken nuggets that you already have on hand and gussy them up. (Do we hear a lesson about recycling in there somewhere...) Chicken parm is ideal comfort food, and this recipe is simple, flavorful, and allows the kids to do lots of fun tasks: topping with mozzarella, sprinkling with basil, and more.

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Feeling lazy? Pop Sesame Street on in the background and lay out bowls with all the ingredients needed for this so your kids can put it all together themselves.

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Movie buffs: Here's your chance to school young ones with some cinematic facts. These simple strawberries can be made in a flash. They're healthy and only call for three ingredients.

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Chicken noodle soup is restorative and comforting for everyone, so make a big batch with help of the whole family. The leftovers are great, the kids can get involved with tearing the chicken and adding the herbs, and everyone can warm up with a big, heaping bowl.

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Baking can also help you teach the fundamentals of culinary science to your kids: discussing the purpose of baking soda (it helps to make the cookies leavened and soft, btw), the differences between sugars, and more. Once you're done with science class, switch to math as the kids help measure ingredients.

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We take some shortcuts here with store-bought cake batter and frosting, allowing this to become more of a decorating-heavy recipe than baking. Let little ones count how many circles they see.

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This recipe is great because the kids can work on the tortilla "cups" while the adults cook the ground beef. The children can learn about the spices in the taco seasoning, as well as help to sprinkle the cheddar and lettuce (and drizzle the sour cream).

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Let little fingers work on fine motor skills as they roll together balls of mac & cheese and dredge them.

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The cookies are easy to make. The toppings are where you can manage to squeeze in a little lesson. Discuss the importance of not wasting food, and roll the dough in whatever leftovers you've got in the pantry: sprinkles, crushed Oreos, shredded coconut, chocolate chips.

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You won't be able to resist snacking on this. You probably have most of these ingredients in your pantry, and the recipe can be modified in multiple ways: swap out different cereals, use different nut butters, use white chocolate instead of semisweet, etc.

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The classic kids favorite sans bread. The adults should slice apples, but then the children can take it from there. They'll love using a cookie cutter to core the apple slices, spreading the peanut butter and jelly, and then making the lil' sandwich. A little messy, a lot of fun, and totally delicious.

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School-aged kids will love the science project vibes of placing the cooked spaghetti into the food coloring bags and shaking them up. Use lots of butter, salt, pepper, and parm to flavor the multi-colored pasta.

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Who doesn't love pigs in a blanket? Here, we use hot dogs and crescent dough that you probably already have on hand and let the kids have fun rolling up the dough and brushing them with the butter mixture flavored with onion powder and parsley. Don't skimp on dipping sauces. Anything is fair game.

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