Teach Older Kids How to Make Their Own DIY Cookbook

Cooking is one of the most important life skills for teens that they’ll need as they move out on their own. A fun way to get middle school kids excited about being in the kitchen is to help them make a DIY cookbook.

For the past couple of years, I have been working hard teaching my older kids how to cook.

One of the first things I taught them was how to read and follow a recipe. We use a wide variety of cookbooks for our normal every day cooking in our house. There are certain recipes that are family favorites and are requested again and again.

These are the recipes that my kids have started adding to their own DIY cookbooks.

It's important to get your middle school kids comfortable cooking on their own because it's an essential life skill they'll need before they move out. A great place to start is by having them help prepare holiday meals or a simple breakfast recipe. When teens find recipes they enjoy making (and eating) they can begin collecting them to make their own personal DIY Cookbook. They'll have all of their childhood favorites in one place. #lifeskills #tweens #teens #teencooking #educationpossible

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A while ago, a friend and I were having a conversation about kids and cooking and she mentioned that her son was making his own Cookbook as a way to gather favorite recipes. I thought this was a GREAT idea. I mentioned it to my teens and they were excited to jump in and make one of their own.

They started paying attention to the recipes they enjoyed making (and eating) and began making copies of those favorites to put into their cooking notebook. They love the fact that when they grow up and are ready to move out, they’ll already have all of their favorite meals in one handy place. And they’ll have lots of experience making the dishes, so they will taste just like they did at home.

If your teen isn’t fond of cooking, this is a great way to get him started. I’m sure he has a handful of dishes he loves and he can add those to his cookbook as he’s learning how to make them. I found that it was easy to get my kids involved in the kitchen by asking them to help me prepare a simple meal, especially if it was one of their favorites.

With this DIY cookbook, not only do my kids have their favorite recipes in a special place, but it’s also handy when we need a quick meal idea. One of my son’s favorite meals is Chicken Pot Pie. He has been helping me make this delicious dish for a while now, and recently he asked if he could make a copy of the recipe so he could keep it for when he gets older.

An Easy DIY Cookbook Idea

The main goal of this project is to help kids collect and save their favorite recipes.

The easiest way to achieve this is to use a regular 3-ring notebook and some paper. When kids find a recipe they want to keep, they should copy the directions onto lined or plain paper or print it off the computer and then add the paper to their notebook.

Supplies:

 

How to Make a DIY Cookbook for Kids As we have mentioned before, getting your middle school kids cooking is important! Cooking is an essential life skill kids need before they move out on their own. We have found that it is easy to begin to get kids involved in the kitchen by having them help prepare holiday meals, slow cooker meals, or a simple breakfast recipe. It's a great idea, that as you identify these favorite recipes, have your kids begin collecting them to make a DIY Cookbook.

DIY Cookbook Tips 

  • If your child has some writing challenges (like my child with dysgraphia), encourage them to type out the recipes using a word processing program and print the page to add to their notebook. Or find new favorites online and print those.
  • If you have a favorite family recipe that has been handed down through the generations (maybe an old recipe card written in grandma’s handwriting) your child might choose to scan the original recipe and then print and add the page to their notebook.
  • Encourage your child to take a photo of their completed dish to add to their notebook. They could even take pictures of the entire process, from ingredients to the final presentation. This will make it easier for them when they go back to make the dish because the photos will help jog their memory about the recipe and its process.
  • Kids can decorate the cover of the notebook with drawings or photos to personalize it.
  • The printed recipes can be hole-punched and added to the notebook directly or slid into page protectors. Personally, we have found that using sheet protectors can be very helpful in preventing kitchen splatters from ruining recipe sheets.
  • A nice bound book is also a nice option.  Your child can handwrite recipes onto the book’s pages and attach photos with tape as professional chefs do.

Imagine all of the great memories they will have as they look back on their recipe collection in their DIY Cookbook when they are teaching their own kids how to cook.

More Tween Cooking Inspiration

Kid’s DIY Cookbook Resources

Encourage your kids to have fun building their own personal DIY Cookbook!

2 Comments

  1. I love this idea! Then when they’re ready to move out on their own they have a collection of their favorite recipes!

  2. Pingback: Sustainable Gift Giving: Kids Edition | Green Action Centre

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