Are you looking for food prep activities for your one-year-old? Involving young children in food prep activities allows children to be connected to their food. Rather than the food appearing at the table, the child can see how it is made. Food prep activities allow children to explore food, its textures and tastes, it can show children what they are capable of and help them to develop coordination and fine motor skills. 

Let's see some of our favourite food prep activities for children 12-24 months. Please use the ages listed as a rough guide and full supervision of all activities is required. At this age we do a lot of slicing, mashing and juicing of fruit. If you find an activity your child likes, stick with it!! 

Above tearing and exploring basil. (12 months)

Experimenting and learning how to hold and use a knife. (12 months)

More cutting. The chopping at this age is a little random as the child develops coordination and hand strength, there is a bit of mashing the fruit too. ❤️🍓🍌 (12 months)

Peeling banana slices. I have cut the banana into slices and then slightly cut the peel so the child can independently peel that banana. This also helps to keep the banana slices fresh until the child decides to peel and eat them. (12 months)

And eating bananas. 

Transfer food from the chopping board to the pan. (15 months)

Helping to wipe the counter. If you are wiping the counter why not give the child a sponge and allow them to wipe too. (15 months)

Washing and rinsing food in a colander. (15 months).

Chopping apple with a crinkle cutter (AU here). This apple is peeled and cut so that it sits flat on the board. (17 months)

Slicing banana with a crinkle cutter. 

Using an electric juicer. ❤️🍊

The rewarding part of preparing the food is tasting and consuming it. 

Picking (homegrown) strawberries. (20 months)

Washing foods. (20 months)

Cutting banana bread with a crinkle cutter. (20 months)

Chopping zucchini. I've pre-cut it so that it sits flat on the chopping board. I prep a few vegetables for him to cut while I do my own food prep. (20 months)

Spreading jam onto a rice cake. (21 months)

Use the Cherry Chomper to remove the pits from the cherry. (21 months)

Use a banana slicer to slice bananas. (21 months)

Transfer foods with mini tongs (sugar tongs). (21 months)

Slicing strawberries. 🍓 (21 months)

Oiling the muffin tray. Using olive oil and a pastry brush. (22 months)

Peeling a banana. (22 months)

Mashing a banana. My child needed help to completely mash it. (22 months)

Pouring pre-measuring ingredients into the bowl. This gets a little messy! (22 months)

Mixing ingredients. This is fabulous for developing hand and arm strength and developing coordination! 🥣  (22 months)

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