Gift Basket For Kids Who Love To Cook

My little lady loves to help me in the kitchen.  Every time I am cooking she is right there next to me with her chair pulled up to the counter, ready to help.  When her birthday rolled around this year I thought I would give her a little basket filled with all of her own cooking utensils and aprons.  I love that she is so excited to be a part of making meals and think this is the perfect gift for any little one that is interesting in cooking or baking.

My basket included:

1. 2 Coordinating Aprons (that I made for her)

2.  Colorful Plastic Measuring Spoons

3.  Colorful Plastic Measuring cups

4. Spatula

5.  Large spoon

6.  Large plastic measuring cup

7.  An assortment of fun sprinkles for baking

8.  Ice cream cone bubbles (just for fun)

9. Matching Oven Mitt and Pot Holder

10. Princess Cupcake Cookbook

11.  Baking basics cookbook

I found the measuring cups and large utensils at Shopko.  They had a great deal and I was able to get items 2 for $4.00 during a sale.  They had lots of fun colors to choose from for girls and for boys too.  This would be a great gift for a little boy who likes to cook as well – just change out the colors and aprons for things that are more masculine.  I found the oven mitts and sprinkles in Target’s Dollar section around Valentines Day as well as the little baking basics book.

Just so we are all aware – I DO NOT let my daughter actually use the oven mitts to put things in or take things out of the oven.  They are more for her to play with and pretend to be like mom.  I do not encourage anyone to let their toddler do things in the kitchen that are unsafe in any way.  I am very careful when I cook in the kitchen with her to keep hot, sharp, or electric things far from her reach.  Always be aware of what your child is doing while you are cooking and teach them what is unsafe for them to touch.  The oven mitts are great for her to play with at her play kitchen and she uses them even when she is mixing dry ingredients in a bowl, but never on the stove top or in the oven.

I found a great Disney Princess Cupcake cookbook at a scholastic book fair at my son’s school.  It is a great way to get her really excited about the things that we can create in the kitchen together.  I found a cute basket at the dollar store in hot pink that I used to package all of her cooking utensils.  It made for a great way to wrap her gift, and we now have a special spot in the kitchen for her basket where she keeps all of her special little cooking goodies

I made the aprons using 2 bandanas that I found at Hobby Lobby.  They were only a dollar each and are the perfect girly colors and patterns cooking up some fun in the kitchen.  I used a Christmas apron that she already had to create a pattern, and cut the bandanas to size.  I hemmed all the edges and used the excess  fabric that I cut from one bandanas to make 3 little pockets on the opposite bandana.  I used regular grosgrain ribbon from the dollar store to sew ties around the apron and around the neck.  The neck strap has Velcro closures so that the apron can be adjusted as she grows.  They turned out super cute and only cost me a few bucks to create.  She loves to choose witch apron she wants for the day and always has a spare if one gets dirty.

She was more than excited about this gift when she opened it in her birthday, and she especially loved to have her very own cookbook.  She heads for her basket of cooking goodies at least once a day.  The utensils are great for cooking, and doing experiments, and she even likes to use the measuring cups as snack holders.  The little handle is just right for her to hold and snack on the go.

I enjoy each and every moment that we spend together in the kitchen, and amazed at how intrigued she is by it all.  This is the girl that won’t sit still to color for more than 2 minutes at a time, but she will sit in the kitchen for 4 hours with me and concoct all sorts of things.  I was very happy to give her an inexpensive gift that encourages her to do something that she enjoys, especially because we can do it together.