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Fun, Free Cooking Games for Kids

Cooking games inspire creativity and confidence while helping kids learn valuable life skills. Encourage children to get in the kitchen and explore opportunities to feel, smell, and taste--the true delight of any culinary adventurer. Come armed with an open mind, plenty of patience, and tolerance for the inevitable messes. When they grow up to be adults who are comfortable in the kitchen, they̵7;ll thank you for it.

Mystery Basket
- The Mystery Basket is a classic cooking game that encourages creativity and flexibility. Contestants (individuals or teams) are each given a basket filled with the same ingredients and instructions to create a dish or a complete meal. Additional items from the kitchen̵7;s pantry may be used if desired, but the mystery basket items are a must. Contestants are timed (one to two hours for older kids, less time for younger children), and a few brave adults act as judges of the completed meals. The ̶0;mystery̶1; comes from the fact that ingredients of the basket aren̵7;t revealed until the game begins. This game can be adapted to suit the abilities of the children playing. Older children might be given shell pasta, tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, strawberries, mozzarella cheese, and refrigerated French bread dough. More experienced chefs might enjoy the challenge of one or two unusual ingredients thrown in (such as almonds, salmon, or baker̵7;s chocolate). Adult helpers are assigned to each team to monitor safety, help with difficult tasks, and suggest ideas if kids get stuck.
Backwards Game
- Children with more experience cooking can test their taste buds with the Backwards Game. Present a prepared dish (such as lasagna) and challenge them to guess the ingredients used. Can they taste the oregano? Was cottage cheese or ricotta cheese used? This can be a non-competitive game played around the dinner table (just what is in that meatloaf?) or tally points for each correct ingredient listed on the contestant̵7;s paper. The winner receives an extra helping for dessert.
Create-Your-Own Games
- Use these cooking games to inspire more ideas. Pair two unlikely ingredients together and challenge kids to create a recipe. Put a twist on sugar cookie decorating by shaping dough into X̵7;s and O̵7;s and playing Tic Tac Toe with the baked cookies. Learn the function of ingredients with the Missing Ingredient Game by making one batch of cookies without sugar, another without salt, another without eggs, then predict and discuss the outcomes.

Kids Games