5 gift ideas your mini chef will appreciate

Cooking is a life skill that needs to be inculcated in kids in the early years of life. While some children have a knack for culinary activities, others need to be nudged a bit to acquire this essential life skill. If you have a budding chef at home or want to encourage your youngster to be one, here are some useful cooking gift ideas that will help you harness her hidden talent.  

Cookbooks

Cookbooks, also called recipe books, can now be found for kids too. These kid-friendly books include tried and tested recipes that don’t require fire, are easy to make, come with clear, step-by-step instructions. Such cookbooks are more like guidebooks as they make children feel like adults who think they can handle the kitchen on their own. This gift is also a convenient way to keep them engaged, as they try to figure out which recipe to try out next. So, buying your child colourful cookbooks with a huge recipe collection, games and quizzes on food, will keep their interest level in cooking intact.  

DIY activity kit for baking

Many youngsters enjoy baking even if they don’t like conventional cooking. As parents, one can gift their mini bakers a DIY activity kit for baking, that is easy to use and is custom-made for today’s kids. So, next time your aspiring baker wishes to bake cookies, cakes or a simple banana bread, buy him this present to enhance his baking passion. This kit usually contains recipe cards, educational activity booklets, an apron, some baking tools and pre-measured ingredients. All these will make the baking experience fun and engaging for little ones. 

Aprons

Owning an apron might not seem like a big deal, but budding chefs would really appreciate one. It gives them a sense of identity, as they consider aprons to be cooking uniforms. Moreover, aprons help kids from spilling and staining accidents, as they can continue cooking without the fear of ruining their clothes. It also makes the mini chefs look and feel professional, like the ones they see on cooking shows or in restaurants. This is why aprons can be a really thoughtful present for little chefs. Parents can buy those cute little aprons, with double front pockets to store cooking tools and preferably an adjustable ring neck, for the right fit. In fact, buying matching aprons for you and your kid and working together in the kitchen will make it a family venture.  

Sprinkles

Children like decorating with colours and fancy multi-coloured sprinkles can help them do just that.  Sprinkles are ready accessories to decorate any dessert or confectionery items like cakes, pastries, cookies and ice cream. So, be it home-made food or store bought, mini chefs can easily colour them all up with sprinkles, giving it a bright and radiant look. There are many kinds of sprinkles: Rainbow, glittered, disco/luster dust and quins among others. According to the colour preferences of your kid, buy a box of sprinkles and present it to them.  

Mini waffle maker

It has been one of the most popular gift options for kids for some time now. These safe and easy-to-use tiny waffle makers not only make tasty waffles, but also sandwiches and brownies. In fact, companies have even come up with cartoon-themed mini waffle makers to kindle the interest of budding chefs, who are always looking to use new tools and appliances to cook with. Choosing waffle makers that have features like non-skid feet and an easy-to-locate power light to indicate whether it’s on or off, hot or not, can help waffle making experience a lot smoother for the mini chefs.