Culinary media for pre-school aged kids?

July 9, 2019 5:58 AM

My daughter is 3.5 and has shown a serious interest in kitchen activities. Usually a whirlwind of manic energy, she becomes focused and deadly serious when she is asked to help cook, bake, or otherwise help with food prep. I'd like to encourage that interest in her with more kitchen-related media.

I introduced her to a Ratatouille Look & Find book and then the movie itself, and she LOVES it. She also has some tablet games like Peppa Pig where she chops vegetables, makes pizza, mixes batter, etc. that she enjoys playing. I am looking for more media in that vein.

posted by JimBJ9 to Media & Arts (18 answers total)

Oh man, Sunny Day from Nick Jr has adorable cooking segments that my 4 and 7 year olds love and there's an in browser game on nickjr.com where you can actually print the recipes and make them later.
posted by julie_of_the_jungle at 6:00 AM on July 9, 2019 [1 favorite]

Toca Bova has some very good cooking game apps.
posted by k8t at 6:04 AM on July 9, 2019 [2 favorites]

My husband and 4yo daughter LOVED watching "Nailed It!" together. Yeah, most of it was giggling at cake fails – I would find them together laughing so hard neither of them could speak – but she actually took away quite a bit of totally legit knowledge around baking techniques. And it show in itself was very good-humored and kid-friendly.
posted by anderjen at 6:11 AM on July 9, 2019 [4 favorites]

this might sound silly but .. for the future - when she gets older she could watch julia child's original episodes - they're on PBS on the "passport" app and probably elsewhere - going back to the original black and white ones from wgbh studios in the 60s. they are, IMO, an amazing culinary education better than anything that's airing now.

I know 3 is a bit young for this , lol .. not an answer for immediate use.. although! I just recently watched the first episode of thr first season on 1950s superman with a 5 year old who watched with rapt attention thanks to his love of everything superhero - i'd thought they wouldn't be a hit bc of the black and white ness , but ..not an issue.

And, there are many many full color Julia child seasons as well, but her project in those early days was just so admirable - to teach americans to cook well, assuming no prior knowledge, from scratch- of course it continued into her later work but the "very basics" part seemed extra good in those early episodes when i watched them a few years ago. for whatever all that's worth ( :
posted by elgee at 6:41 AM on July 9, 2019 [3 favorites]

If by media you also mean books, this is part of a cute series that comes with a recipe: pancakes
posted by puffyn at 6:43 AM on July 9, 2019

Best answer: There was a BBC kids show called I Can Cook aimed at this age. Seems like there's a bunch of episodes on Youtube. The presenter takes a bunch of 4 year olds through cooking a simple recipe - you could watch an episode then go and cook the same thing.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:02 AM on July 9, 2019 [5 favorites]

I came here to recommend I Can Cook, which my kids loved when they were toddlers. Since EndsOfInvention already linked you to the videos, I'll refer you to the companion cookbook. Because it's a UK cookbook, the measurements will be in metric, and you may need to google a few of the ingredients. (Hint: "Castor sugar" is just superfine granulated sugar; you can pretty much always substitute regular granulated sugar.) But it's colorful and the recipes are all well chosen to be manageable for a toddler-and-parent team.
posted by yankeefog at 7:11 AM on July 9, 2019 [4 favorites]

My youngsters enjoy Chopped on the Food network - it's absolutely family-friendly, your daughter might enjoy it, too.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:41 AM on July 9, 2019 [1 favorite]

Same goes for the great british baking show. My six year old and ten year old are both obsessed (and I don't mind watching Paul Hollywood, either).

Seconding Toca Boca for kids cooking apps. There are lots and lots of other ones, and some themed apps have cooking aspects (my daughter has a sofia the first one, for instance) but toca for sure.
posted by dpx.mfx at 7:47 AM on July 9, 2019 [2 favorites]

I came in to advocate for Nailed It! as well, because the idea that something can be good without being perfect will serve them well throughout their lives, in and out of the kitchen.
posted by Etrigan at 8:11 AM on July 9, 2019 [1 favorite]

She might like watching other toddlers cook/bake. Here's a 3-year-old making cupcakes.
posted by pinochiette at 8:20 AM on July 9, 2019 [1 favorite]

Hungry Monkey, and to a lesser extent the podcast Spilled Milk co-hosted by the author, detail the author's struggle to get his kid to love and enjoy food as much as he does. Its a fun book with recipes and has a decent set of suggestions for food related media for younger kids.
posted by Ashwagandha at 8:48 AM on July 9, 2019

For the added delight of getting something in the mail in your name, there's ChopChop magazine. I've seen it at my local library and it's bright and fun with simple recipes and has a diverse set of children both on the cover and in the magazine.

Also, consider buying or checking out of the library fun picture books to go with your culinary adventures (children's librarians are an excellent resource for toddler books that feature food!):
Bee-Bim Bop by Linda Sue Park
The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin (with a recipe for ugly vegetable soup!)
Cora Cooks Pancit by Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore and Kristi Valiant
The First Strawberries by Joseph Bruchac and Anna Vojtech
Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin
Rainbow Stew by Catherine Falwell
The Bakeshop Ghost by Jacqueline K. Ogburn
posted by carrioncomfort at 9:17 AM on July 9, 2019 [3 favorites]

I Can Cook also has some recipes online.
posted by low_horrible_immoral at 11:50 AM on July 9, 2019 [1 favorite]

In later shows with Jaques Pepin, he is very grandfather-y (and he did a whole series with his daughter, too!). The food might seem weird to a kid, but she might enjoy his manner.
posted by wenestvedt at 1:38 PM on July 9, 2019

The Bumble Nums might not have the level of detail that you want, but are very fun-- a kids' show on Youtube in which each episode centers around the Bumble Nums making a food. Each food has a 'secret ingredient', which is something that doesn't really exist, such as sparkling strawberries, but these ingredients are then used to make something you could actually make with the foods they're based on. As I said, there's not that much detail on the actual cooking process, but you can pretty much figure out what they have to be doing in each case, so it might be useful if your kid is at a point where you can say 'and then what should they do next in the recipe?, and the show's just charming otherwise.
posted by Rush-That-Speaks at 10:03 PM on July 9, 2019

We watched both Nailed It and I Can Cook and my 4 yo vastly prefers I Can Cook. I think the format is simpler and it shows full recipes and actual kitchen skills. Also it’s 15min so nice and short.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 7:07 PM on July 14, 2019

Response by poster: Oh, we are ABSOLUTELY going to be watching I Can Cook. That looks perfect.

Thanks everyone!
posted by JimBJ9 at 12:13 PM on July 17, 2019 [1 favorite]