Top 10 Christmas Gifts for Kids Who Love to Cook

I’m practical to a fault, and I’m probably boring sometimes to my friends in real life.

But when it’s time to put away the Christmas gifts, there’s a certain joy in NOT having to ask, “Oh boy…where can this go? Do we need to buy a tub to contain all the little pieces? Do we even still have all the little pieces?” 

My favorite Christmas gifts are experience gifts that are clutter-free, and close behind that are gifts with a purpose: books to read, clothing to wear, and tools to use in the kitchen!

We work hard here at Kids Cook Real Food^™ to inspire parents to teach their kid to cook, and we find that sometimes some fun kitchen tools for kids are just the motivation the kids (and adults, ahem) need!

Gifts for Kids Who Cook

A little something under the tree is a great idea to kick off inspiration in the kitchen! Before you know it, the kids will be making Christmas morning breakfast while you sip coffee, quietly. 😉

If you want to see a HUGE list of all my favorite and highly recommended kitchen tools for kids, you can check out our resources page for our cooking class members.

Here are my top 10 favorite gifts for kids who like to cook:

Gifts for Kids Who Like to Cook

1. Apron

Our members share pics of their kids in aprons more than anything else! Donning an apron is like Clark Kent taking off the glasses—kids FEEL like they belong in the kitchen, and then they do!

Plus most parents don’t love the potential mess when cooking with kids, so a cute apron makes it all better. 🙂

Just a few quick options:

• Set of 4 colorful kid-sized aprons
• Pink apron set with rolling pin, hot mitt, cookie cutters, and more
• I ordered our Kids Cook Real Food^™ aprons from Zazzle, where you can customize easily (and don’t have to order in bulk). They’ve lasted well through washings over 4 years now!

2. Colorful Whisk and Spatulas

When a child chef has their “own” tool to use, they take ownership—not just of the tool, but of the whole cooking process.

And when this set of a colorful whisk and spatulas is also dishwasher safe and super cute, it’s a win all around! (Hint: They fit great in a stocking! Or try some consumable stocking stuffers or non-toxic nail polish for little girls.)

3. Crinkle Cutter

Kids love cute food. A crinkle cutter makes it possible for even little kids to cut food into fun shapes.

Little hands aren’t quite strong enough to do something hard like a carrot though, so to reduce frustration, be sure to only allow little ones to use the crinkle cutter with things like cheese, zucchini, cucumber, and maybe bananas.

Bigger kids with more strength and with the larger crinkle cutter can often handle carrots and parsnips as well. The sky is the limit on this one!

4. Measuring Cups/Spoons

Any measuring spoons work great for kids. However, I really like the shape of these spring chef measuring spoons because they are narrow enough to fit right into the jar. 

When you have to “pour” from a spice jar into a spoon, even adults sometimes make a mess. With little ones’ small motor skills still developing, a little “shake-a-shake-a” can turn into a big dump. Since these narrow spoons will fit down into the jar, that means that kids are less likely to be spilling when they are trying to measure flat, and that’s always a plus for busy parents.

I also really like this stainless steel measuring cup and spoon set—colorful handles to tell apart the cups AND the shape of spoon that fits in the jar!

5. Their Own Special Cutting Board

I’m a big proponent of every person in the house having their own cutting board. For kids, it’s important to me that they’re non-slip, like this 3-piece set or even a bamboo board with non-slip silicone edges.

If you have very young children or cut a lot of salad, this Masterchef Junior cutting board and knife set is cute. Generally for older kids, though, I want to see REAL knives in their hands so they don’t get too used to only using the “saw blade” motion with the plastic serrated knife.

We Recommend REAL Cooking Tools to Gift to Kids

6. Kid-Friendly Knives

I’ve never been a huge fan of the plastic knives that kids can use that can’t cut them, but can still cut food.

Parents and grandparents always get really excited about them because they feel like they’re teaching their kids how to use knives safely, but the problem is that the kids need to use different techniques because the knife is usually serrated.

It’s difficult for them then, to switch to using appropriate techniques for sharp knives. Plus, I believe that when we use safety knives, we are not teaching our kids to keep their hands safe when they finally do transition to a sharp knife.

So in our online cooking class, Kids Cook Real Food^™, we firmly believe in allowing kids to use real tools and simply learning the correct safe techniques right from the get-go. We teach the same strategies from a butter knife to a chef’s knife so that kids can seamlessly transition from age two up to using tools in the kitchen just like an adult would.

Watching a four-year-old respect a butter knife and use it correctly for a year or two makes parents and kids completely comfortable transitioning to a paring knife even as young as age five.

That said, there are some knife sizes that are better for little kids’ hands. For just getting started with a sharp knife, it’s perfectly fine to grab a small paring knife from a dollar store as long as you’re cutting food that is fully appropriate for that size of knife. I recommend small soft things like mushrooms and strawberries, as well as the lovely medium density of cucumbers and zucchini.

Those two vegetables are also nice and long so that kids can keep their fingers away from the sharp knife as they are getting used to something new. At Kids Cook Real Food^™, our favorite brand is Victorinox because it is:

• very affordable
• rated second highest at America’s Test Kitchen*
• has super sizes appropriate for kids hands

Victorinox has a four-inch pairing knife that works really well for a child’s first exposure to sharp knives, and I have even known of adults who use it as their chef’s knife. It’s sharp enough and robust enough to cut onions.

It’s still nice to have an extra inch and the width of a chef’s knife and I love that Victorinox has a five-inch knife for just around forty bucks. You can have a special knife for your kids which is very sharp and very manageable for small hands.

Of course, we recommend having a simple knife sharpener around as well, because sharp knives are actually more safe than dull knives. The most dangerous knife is one that’s not where you expect it to be and dull knives are more likely to slip.

If you’re looking for a little bit fancier knife, the one my kids always steal from me is the Wusthof six-inch chef’s knife. This one literally lives on our cutting board and hardly ever gets put away just rinsed between uses. However, it’s a lot pricier, so I might not get this just for kids, but it’s a great knife to have as the family’s central knife.

*If you were wondering who Victorinox was second to in America’s Test Kitchen ratings, it’s Wusthof.

Kid-Friendly Knife Review from Kids Cook Real Food^™

If you can’t see the video above, click Best Kitchen Knives for Kids to view it directly on YouTube.

 

7. Mini-Tongs

We want our preschoolers to have jobs in the kitchen they can do independently and get small motor control practice. These hand-shaped mini tongs are perfect to inspire your 2, 3, 4 and 5-year-olds to take charge of serving shredded cheese, moving cut fruit from the board to the plate, and chasing runaway olives down the table. 😉

My kids always show such a sense of pride when they have “their jobs” like this! Bonus tip: The best tongs I’ve ever found were actually in a 2-pack at a dollar store! Tools don’t have to be fancy to be functional and the right size for kids’ hands!

8. Mini-Spiralizer

Anyone who’s fed a child pasta before knows that shape matters when it comes to food. Often, making veggies into fun shapes can help kids be more likely to eat them which is always our goal especially with picky eaters.

Spiralizing is easy and because it’s fun, it’s a great job for kids to do. I really like delegating this to my kids!

I’ve tried a few and we loved the SpiralLife one, which is sadly not made anymore. This OXO one looks similar, though! See the video below for more.

If you can’t see the video above, click here to see it on YouTube.

If you aren’t sure if spiralizing will be right for your family I highly recommend this small spiralizer. It’s only around the $20 mark and you use it by turning a zucchini in it sort of like sharpening a pencil. (It would not be appropriate for harder foods like sweet potatoes, but again, it’s a great entry point and zoodles are always the most popular thing to spiralize.)

9. Silicone Cupcake Cups

More fun in the kitchen! Bake muffins and cupcakes, separate food in school lunches, and give your creative child another way to “plate” food for serving in pretty ways. You can get silicone cupcake cups on their own, or a set comes with this very affordable silicone muffin pan set (full size and mini).

I’ve found them surprisingly easy to clean!

10. Cookbooks for Kids

If you’re looking for some recipes for your kids to make, first, of course, start with the Kids Cook Real Food^™ eCourse. We focus on building skills, not recipes, but we also make some really great food while keeping it allergy-friendly.

Once your kids have built their 30 basic skills and feel like they can tackle any recipe they come across, now it’s time to get them some really fun cookbooks.

Here are our favorites for three different ages levels:

Bonus #11 – Masterchef Jr Set

This Cooking Essentials Set from Masterchef Jr includes an apron, cutting board, mixing bowl, measuring cups, measuring spoons, spatula, spoon, tongs, and 4 recipe cards. This is cute in and of itself, but especially if the child enjoys watching Masterchef Jr at home, it’ll be extra special for them to recreate the fun and excitement of the TV series at home!

What practical, cooking gifts do you like to get your kids at the holidays?