Cooking with young children is about more than just preparing meals—it’s a powerful way to introduce them to fundamental concepts such as colours, shapes, counting, and even basic science. Discover creative and fun ways that cooking with kids is the perfect opportunity to inspire kids to engage in hands-on learning while building independence and confidence in the kitchen. It’s a fun and effective way to support early childhood education through cooking.
One program that makes the connection between cooking and learning both fun and accessible is Chef Bisous. Created by a husband-and-wife duo—a teacher and a musician—Chef Bisous was born from their own experiences of watching their child learn in the kitchen. Inspired by their son’s curiosity, they combined their expertise to create an engaging YouTube show that helps parents and caregivers turn everyday cooking into a learning through play experience. Whether it’s teaching math, science for kids, or fostering creativity, Chef Bisous has a recipe for success.
Here are 4 simple ways to get children involved in meal planning and food prep, all while sneaking in valuable lessons along the way.
1. Use Food to Explore Colours and Shapes
The kitchen is a fantastic space for preschoolers to recognize and sort colours and shapes in a hands-on way, making it a perfect setting for preschool learning through cooking.
Ideas to Try:
- Colour Identification: Encourage children to find ingredients based on color—“Can you find something yellow for our meal?”
- Sorting and Shapes: Ask them to group round foods together, or cut ingredients into different shapes and name them.
- Creative Food Art: Let children arrange their meals into fun designs, reinforcing shape recognition while fostering creativity.
This approach aligns perfectly with Chef Bisous’ focus on integrating learning into cooking. In one episode, kids explore colors by making rainbow fruit sticks, using different fruits to represent each color of the rainbow. Another episode turns mealtime into a shape lesson with “shape pizzas,” where toppings like square ciabatta buns, triangular cheese, circular pepperoni and olives, and rectangular bell peppers help reinforce shape recognition. By combining hands-on food prep with engaging visuals and music, Chef Bisous makes these foundational concepts fun and memorable for young learners.
2. Cooking as a Hands-On Math Lesson (and sorting too!)
Cooking is a natural way to introduce mathematical concepts like counting, measuring, and understanding quantities. Kids can learn math in a fun, hands-on way while getting involved in meal prep.
Ideas to Try:
- Counting Ingredients: Ask children to count out scoops of flour, eggs, or pieces of fruit.
- Measuring Together: Let them use measuring cups, talking about the difference between a whole cup and a half cup.
- Basic Fractions: Show how cutting a sandwich or pizza into halves and quarters demonstrates fractions in a tangible way.
Math for kids becomes much more engaging when tied to something children can see, touch, and taste. Chef Bisous episodes highlight these moments through simple, child-friendly cooking demonstrations. Whether it’s learning math by counting ingredients or understanding fractions through pizza slices, cooking makes math for kids both fun and practical.
3. Exploring Science Through Cooking (and making rainbows!)
The kitchen is one of the best places to introduce basic science concepts for kids.
Ideas to Try:
- Cause and Effect: Ask, “What happens when we mix baking soda and vinegar?” or “Why does dough rise?”
- Temperature Changes: Let children observe what happens when butter melts, ice cubes freeze, or water boils.
- Sensory Learning: Encourage them to feel, smell, and describe ingredients before and after cooking.
Many Chef Bisous videos tap into children’s natural curiosity about how things work in the kitchen, using engaging, age-appropriate explanations that make science feel like an adventure. In one episode, kids explore sinking and floating while making cheesy egg muffins, testing whether different ingredients—like eggs, cheese, and vegetables—sink or float before mixing them into the batter. By turning everyday cooking tasks into simple experiments, Chef Bisous helps children connect food preparation with real-world science concepts in a fun, interactive way.
4. Encouraging Independence and Confidence in the Kitchen
When children play an active role in the kitchen, they develop a sense of independence and accomplishment. Cooking for kids is not just about making meals—it’s about building confidence and critical life skills.
Ideas to Try:
- Let Them Make Choices: Offer two meal options and let them decide what to cook.
- Give Them a Role: Even toddlers can help stir, sprinkle, or wash vegetables.
- Celebrate Their Work: A simple “You made this!” can build confidence and encourage future participation.
By turning meal prep into an interactive experience, parents can foster a positive relationship between children and food while reinforcing critical developmental skills.
Bringing the Chef Bisous Experience Home
For parents looking for inspiration, Chef Bisous offers an engaging, music-filled approach to early learning through cooking. Each episode features a fun, educational recipe designed to introduce concepts like opposites, dinosaurs, waste sorting, and body parts—all in a playful, accessible format.
What makes Chef Bisous unique is how it blends cooking with music to reinforce learning. Music isn’t just a way to make cooking fun; it’s an integral part of solidifying each lesson. For example, after making crispy marshmallow planets, the episode continues with a song to help children remember details about each planet and their order from the sun. Whether kids are learning about sinking and floating, shapes, or the importance of trying new foods, Chef Bisous combines hands-on activities with music to make learning stick.
Ways to Engage with Chef Bisous
- Watch Chef Bisous on YouTube for kid-friendly cooking episodes that make learning fun.
- Download free activity sheets to keep the learning going outside of the kitchen.
- Find the recipes online to recreate Chef Bisous recipes at home, reinforcing lessons through hands-on cooking experiences.
