The Tickle Fingers Toddler Cookbook: Hands-on Fun in the Kitchen for 1 to 4s

Now that my 20 month old is becoming more and more interested in 'helping' with every day tasks, I decided that I would love to start getting her involved in food preparation and baking etc. However, I am not confident in the kitchen at all, and have a tendency to become flustered and disorganised at the best of times, so I wondered how I would be able to make baking a fun and achievable experience for my daughter. The beauty of this book is that it contains recipes that allow the children, however young they may be, to take control in the kitchen and do it for themselves with minimum interference or help from the supervising adult. The key to success with these recipes is that the book explains and guides the parent/carer very easily in how to identify the types of recipe your own child might be best suited to (dependent on their age, ability, and particular interests/play styles/skills). It also contains very useful tips on the 'parent prep' that should be done beforehand (eg weighing and chopping), so that the child can just get on with doing the cooking without any delay or interruption to their fun. We started with the blueberry yoghurt muffins, and I was sceptical about whether my daughter would be able to make these 'by herself'. But to my amazement, all she needed was verbal instruction from me, and lots of encouragement, and she did it! The pride and sense of achievement for both of us was fantastic. I cannot recommend this book enough for people who want to encourage their children in the kitchen but aren't sure where to start. Other plus points worth noting: Allergies are taken into consideration for each recipe, and alternative ingredients are suggested where possible. There is no raw egg or raw meat used in any of the recipes, meaning that it's safe for inquisitive children to taste as they cook. Recipes are separated into breakfast, snack, lunch and dinner etc so that you can cook a variety of different dishes at different times of the day, and all recipes are catergorised by skill level to help you indentify a starting point for beginners/younger children.

This is literally the best toddler cookbook I have found. I have a 17 month old and hadn't really considered cooking with him until my mum suggested it as an activity he may enjoy. I bought a couple of cookbooks but the steps in those books were not really toddler-friendly or at least not suitable for one as young as my son. The steps were also mainly for the adults with a couple of steps that the toddlers could get involved in and anyone with a toddler would know they would easily lose interest! I was also concerned about the inevitable finger licking for the recipes containing things like raw egg. This cookbook is very easy to use. It has recipes in 3 categories of difficulty with the easiest recipes containing no ingredients that couldn't be eaten raw. All of the steps in the recipes are suitable for the toddlers to do and there is a section for parent preparation which includes things like weighing out the ingredients for the very young toddlers and chopping. The recipes are also not just sweet recipes, there are recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner too. I highly recommend this book for getting the children involved in the kitchen - it is amazing!

I love this book which has a variety of savoury and sweet recipes and like how it is split into levels of ability/confidence. My nearly 3 year old has coped well with the recipes we have tried and I fould the section about what to prep before starting helpful as there is usually something I forget. The book is not only filled with recipes but has detail explanation of what toddlers are getting out of the activity and how it can fit play styles. The portion sizes are just right for our family of 3 so there is no waste. I highly recommend this book and only deducted a star because the cooking times did not included fan assisted (20°C less by the way if anyone else is interested).

Found this book at my local library and after looking at it at home, I knew I had go have a copy. It is absolutely brilliant. Easy to use, very easy recipes and tips to follow. My two year old loves having everything laid out for him and then be able to do it all himself. We regularly have a baking session Wednesday to then share with our friends we see the next day. We get so many compliments about how tasty the food is (which really surprised me because the recipes are so basic and have been made by a two year old!). Both adults and children have enjoyed what we have made. The book is also great because of the variety of recipes, starters, mains and desserts. The allergy information is so simple to read and use quickly. I've recommended this book to at least ten people already!

Delightful cook book easy to read and follow

I thought this would have more recipes and ideas for feeding toddlers. It’s actually more about the mindset behind allowing kids to cook with you. Basic recipes such as pasta or tuna pittas but some good info in there about why it’s important to let your toddler help.

Absolutely fantastic. My 2 year old daughter has been interested in helping in the kitchen since what feel like forever so I've tried to find ways to involve her whenever I can buy at times it can be difficult with raw ingredients, hot dishes and sharp knives. This book has recipes which, once I had the right sized spoon measured, she can actually cook by herself. Not only has she made biscuits, cakes and overnight oats, she just made herself her own tea! A very basic baked eggs Benedict. She loves it, I love it and we get some perfect time together having fun.

My 16 month year old great nephew, Leo, is fascinated by food and cooking and my nephew likes to involve him in everyday tasks. I doubted I could find a cook book for toddlers and was delighted to find this one. Even then I thought his parents might think it impractical but they loved it and saw it’s potential. Leo agrees and has prepared 2 delicious meals so far in the 3 days after Christmas. As always the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

My daughter and granddaughters will love this cookbook.

Ottimo! Tranne ricette fattibilissime, divise per difficoltà, con ingredienti che generalmente si hanno a casa, indicazioni buone quindi buona riuscita. Inoltre, la prima parte spiega come preparare l'ambiente per i piccolissimi in modo che l'esperienza sia positiva. Finalmente il libro di cucina con i bambini che cercavo!

I’m loving every moment of this book. It’s so organized and considerate. I love how it links ingredients used with other recipes, so you are less likely to waste anything. I love how it works with Schemas and lists skills toddlers will use. I am also grateful it has an estimated time for toddler prepping along with cooking times based on the difficulty level. I love that it’s organized into difficulty levels! Most importantly, I’m so grateful it has a picture of each dish. I think that’s so important for anyone making something to have a visual of the end result when it deals with duplicating a construction. I think this book is a great way to get into a facilitating mindset. Montessori can be a bit overwhelming for me with so many different areas to practice observation and facilitating, while considering my child’s interests to accomplish their work or development . This book sort of helps practice it with my little one with providing some thought processes with their troubleshooting section and prioritizing fun. I honestly don’t understand the negative reviews. Even if you didn’t read all the information on how to best utilize the book, it’s all clear and simple to read. I would assume difficulties are probably due to not knowing their own child’s ability to focus or their child’s interests /schema. However, reading all the sections would help in this too (or give you a place to research on your own to understand better). Advice: keep your phone near to look up ingredients since they are in British terms. I.e. baking soda is called Bicarbonate of Soda; Superfine Sugar is called Caster Sugar. Know your kid’s capabilities and attention span Read all the sections to know how to use the book, and it will be easy to accomplish the recipes. Prioritize fun. If you don’t get your dish because of whatever, make sure you and your little are having fun the whole time anyway.

Awesome book. Heaps of great recipes. Very happy with this purchase. Thank you.

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