Getting kids involved in the kitchen is a recipe for success—from building healthy habits to supporting school smarts.
There are so many ways to stay healthy as a family. Daily exercise, play, and practicing mindfulness together are all valuable strategies to help set kids up for a lifetime of good physical, mental and emotional health. So is their relationship with food and cooking.
Preparing meals as a family is a great way of slowing down and spending quality time together. It helps to create lasting memories around personal health and fosters the ability to make good food choices in our children. Time in the kitchen also offers the opportunity to practice cultural traditions that build connections to our family histories. Revisiting well-loved recipes while adding in new seasonal ingredients might even open the door to discussions about sustainability, our changing environment, or why your pasta sauce never quite tastes the same as grandma’s.
Need more of a reason to whip up something tasty together? Cooking makes math and science approachable and fun. Children of all ages can explore the chemistry of baking, learn about math concepts by slicing up or measuring out ingredients, and get real world insight into how our bodies use food to fuel us.
Start crafting your own healthy food routines, learn about how our bodies process sensory information like flavor and smell, and what foods boost our brain-power with the videos, activities and games below. Then, try some of our favorite PBS KIDS recipes at home with your family. Bon appétit!
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Healthy Habits Start in the Kitchen
Three Steps to Parenting in the Kitchen
Grades PreK-K
Parenting in the kitchen includes encouraging your kids to be a part of mealtime planning, active in food preparation and making regular family mealtimes a priority, even with the youngest kids.
The Science of Balance: Learn Through Nutrition
Grades PreK-3
A balanced lifestyle makes room for the exercise, nutrition, and sleep that keep our minds sharp and bodies strong. Learn the basic science of balance and get excited to make a homemade meal with your kids.
Healthy Snack Ideas for Kids
Grades PreK-3
How do you encourage your kids to eat healthy? Here are four ideas to help them develop good snacking habits.
How to Make Family Meals the Best Part of Your Day
Grades PreK-5
Family meals might sound impossible to pull off, but they are doable if you think creatively to fit your own family’s needs. They don’t have to happen every day, involve hours of fancy cooking, or even occur at dinnertime. Here are some tips to make family meals feasible and fun!
The Science of Savory & Sweet
Some Like It Hot: Biology | Compact Science
Grades 3-8
Learn about the science of hot wings—from the Scoville Scale to capsaicin we zero in on how our bodies react and process sensory information. Then, students test their sensory perception of temperature.
A Slice of Pizza Science! | It’s Okay to Be Smart
Grades 6-12
How does math keep a folded slice from drooping? And what does pizza have to do with the speed of light? Learn all about it with this video from It’s Okay to Be Smart.
The Science of Taste | QUEST
Grades 6-12
As scientists decode how our taste and olfactory receptors work, top California chefs are using that knowledge to create alchemy in the kitchen. Learn about the elements that make up flavor, explore how top chefs use science to create particular flavor sensations, and review examples of how sensory science impacts our lives in this video segment from QUEST, produced by KQED.
The Chemistry of Tender Turkey
Grades 6-12
In this video excerpt from NOVA scienceNOW, learn about the chemistry behind brining meat. Guy Crosby of America’s Test Kitchen demonstrates how soaking a raw turkey in salt water adds moisture to the meat through the process of osmosis. Correspondent and New York Times technology columnist David Pogue participates in a taste test to identify samples of turkey cooked with and without brining.
How to Cookie with Science | Reactions
Grades 6-12
Chocolate chip cookies are nearly universally adored. People like them in all sorts of textures, sizes and tastes. So how can you make your perfect cookie? Using science, of course. Check out this video for a cookie vs. cookie bake-off!
Family-Favorite Recipes from PBS KIDS
Make Flying Flapjacks for Breakfast
Grades PreK-3
Get cooking just like Donkey Hodie with this fun and simple recipe for Flying Flapjacks! Measuring, mixing and pouring are all great ways for your child to learn the basics of cooking while they practice fine motor skills. Encourage them to plan ahead for the ingredients they’ll need, and help them as they think of someone who might like to share some delicious flapjacks!
Create Cute Veggie Snails
Grades PreK-3
Get your child interested in wild animals just like the Kratt Brothers. Have fun learning about animals while making your own veggie creature creations.
Make Abuela Cecilia’s Mofongo
Grades PreK-3
Mofongo is a classic Puerto Rican dish that you and your child can make together — using six ingredients! Get ready to peel, chop, and mash away for a delicious snack or side.
Make Daniel Tiger Banana Swirl
Grades PreK-3
Invite your child to take a break and help you in the kitchen to make a delicious banana swirl treat. Set up the ingredients in your kitchen and help your child follow the directions.
Make a Pumpkin Smoothie
Grades PreK-3
Sunspot turned pumpkin goop into a giant pumpkin pie which he shared with Jet and his friends. Making this pumpkin smoothie is one way for your child to turn pumpkin guts into a tasty treat!
Books, Games & Activities
Go on Cooking Adventures With These Books
Grades PreK-3
Food and family always seem to go together. Families cook together, eat together, and (sometimes) do the dishes together. Enjoy some quality time with your family as you read these books about families and their cooking adventures. Many of the books also include recipes that you can try too!
Molly’s Recipe Book
Grades K-2
Use Molly’s recipe book to get cooking with family and friends! Assemble the book, make one of Molly’s recipes, and add your own.
Chef Leo’s Creative Kitchen
Grades K-2
Little chefs can have fun in the kitchen with Leo! Make recipes based off Let’s Go Luna! and also create your own.
Nutrition: What Your Body Needs
Grades 3-8
In this blended lesson supporting literacy skills, students watch videos that explore why some foods are healthy and others unhealthy, they outline the process our body uses to break down foods into forms it can use, and they explain the role nutrition can play in managing diseases, including diabetes.
Relish collection
Grades 6-12
Relish shares stories of cultural heritage in Twin Cities communities through the universal language of food. In each episode, host Yia Vang of Union Hmong Kitchen takes us inside the kitchen with local chefs as they serve up an ingredient or dish that has personal and cultural meaning to them. This PBS LearningMedia collection includes discussion questions, activities, and recipes inspired by the show to try at home.