Most kids love to spend time in the kitchen. Why not foster their love of cooking and baking with a few treats for Valentine’s Day? Here are five great ideas that are easy and simple enough for kids to make with proper supervision.
1. Baking is the easiest part of cooking for kids to learn. Make scrumptious cookies for the family or the school class for Valentine’s Day. The cookies can be simple sugar cookies. Use cookie cutters to cut them in the shape of hearts. Round cookies can be decorated with hearts using a pastry bag and a small writing tip. Add a bit of red food coloring to white icing to create pink for the cookies.
2. What about chocolate desserts? Kids can make chocolate truffles. The chocolate candies can be rolled in powdered sugar, cocoa, nuts, or chocolate sprinkles to complete the tasty treats. The finished candies can be packed in a heart-shaped candy tin on top of waxed paper. School teachers would love this treat from one of their students.
3. Melted chocolate can also be used to make chocolate lollipops. Using a mold and lollipop sticks, the chocolate can be melted into heart shapes. Once the candy is cool and firm, the lollipops can be wrapped with clear wrap and a ribbon tied to the stick. Kids can put these lollipops into gift baskets for their siblings on Valentine’s Day.
4. My kids learned to cook by making breakfast. Surprise the family with a breakfast created by the younger family members. Heart-shaped pancakes can be made with a mold in the frying pan or on the griddle. Omelets in the shape of love can be created using the same mold. If Valentine’s Day falls on a weekday, kids can plan their Valentine’s Day breakfast for the Sunday before the day so that everyone can relax and enjoy the breakfast.
5. A Valentine’s Day cake would make a sweet treat for after dinner. Kids can create a series of small cakes using individual mold pans or one cake. A round cake and a stencil can be cut to shape the cake into a heart after it is baked. Let the kids mix the ingredients and spread icing on the cooled cakes. As an extra touch, they can write the name of each family member including themselves on the cakes.
Why not invite other family members over for the treats that the kids create? Kids love having an audience of taste testers for their work. They will likely want to spend more holidays creating good food in the kitchen if they receive positive reinforcement.
Kids can make all sorts of treats. Give them a sampling of recipes and let them choose the ones they want to make. Plan your strategy at least a week in advance so that there is time to gather all of the ingredients.
Valentine’s Day treats are a way for kids to share in the giving of the day. They may not have money to buy gifts for others but they can use their hands to mold candies and other foods for the family members to enjoy. Try these ideas for Valentine’s Day treats, or try some of your own.
