Easy recipes for kids to make
Peabody's Kitchen has 12 free, easy recipes kids can make, from no-cook ants on a log for a 5-year-old to pancakes for older kids. Each recipe has picture steps read aloud by Crumb, a tiny chef, amounts that halve and double as fractions, allergy swaps, and every hot or sharp step marked for a grown-up.
12 easy recipes kids can make
| Recipe | Ages | Kind | Time | A grown-up does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ants on a Log | 5 to 9 | Snacks, no-cook | 10 min | the sharp knife |
| Rainbow Fruit Cup | 5 to 9 | Snacks, no-cook | 15 min | the sharp knife |
| Yogurt Parfait | 5 to 10 | Breakfast, no-cook | 10 min | nothing (a grown-up nearby) |
| Banana Sushi | 5 to 10 | Snacks, no-cook | 10 min | nothing (a grown-up nearby) |
| Trail Mix | 5 to 11 | Snacks, no-cook | 10 min | nothing (a grown-up nearby) |
| English Muffin Pizza | 5 to 11 | Lunch | 20 min | the oven |
| Banana Oat Cookies | 5 to 11 | Baking | 25 min | the oven |
| Homemade Lemonade | 6 to 11 | Drinks, no-cook | 15 min | the sharp knife |
| Avocado Toast | 6 to 11 | Breakfast | 10 min | the toaster, the sharp knife |
| Scrambled Eggs | 7 to 12 | Breakfast | 15 min | the stove |
| Cheese Quesadilla | 7 to 12 | Lunch | 15 min | the stove, the sharp knife |
| Pancakes | 8 to 14 | Breakfast | 30 min | the stove |
Easy recipes for kids by age
- Ages 5 to 6 (kindergarten): start with the no-cook recipes: ants on a log, rainbow fruit cup, yogurt parfait, banana sushi, trail mix. A child this age can wash fruit, spread with a butter knife, pour, stir, mash and count.
- Ages 6 to 8 (1st and 2nd grade): measuring with cups and spoons, cracking an egg, squeezing lemons: homemade lemonade, avocado toast and English muffin pizza, with a grown-up at the oven or toaster.
- Ages 7 to 11 (2nd to 5th grade): reading the recipe aloud, whisking, watching the pan with a grown-up: scrambled eggs, cheese quesadilla and pancakes.
How a Kitchen recipe works
- Wash hands. Every recipe starts with soap and twenty seconds of scrubbing, and a recipe that cracks an egg washes again after.
- Get things out. The ingredients are a tap-to-check list, in the amounts for the size you chose.
- Follow the pictures. One short sentence and one drawn picture per step, read aloud. A grown-up step says so out loud first, and its button reads "A grown-up helped".
- Taste test. Three faces, then three ideas to make it your own next time.
Safety in the kitchen
Every step that uses sharp, hot, plugs in tools (a sharp knife, the stove, the oven, the toaster) is a grown-up's step, whatever the child's age. Recipes with raw egg or flour that get cooked say "no tasting raw dough or batter". Foods that are a choking risk for brothers and sisters under 4, like whole grapes and nuts, carry a note, and so does honey for babies under 1. No recipe uses raw meat or fish.
Allergy swaps
Tap "Allergies?" on the Kitchen's front page and pick one (peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, wheat, soy, sesame, fish, shellfish) and each recipe fills in a swap where there is one: sunflower seed butter for peanut butter, oat yogurt for yogurt, corn tortilla for tortilla, sunflower seeds for peanuts, gluten-free bread for bread, oat milk for milk, oil for butter. Optional extras are left out, and a recipe that can't be made without the allergen is marked and moved down. Picks stay on your device. Packet foods still need their labels read, and a family with a serious allergy follows its doctor's plan.
Kitchen math
Each recipe has Half, Normal and Double buttons. They rewrite every amount as a measuring-cup fraction, on the card and in the steps, and say it aloud: ¾ cup doubled is 1½ cups, ½ cup halved is ¼ cup. There's more in kitchen math: fractions in recipes.
Questions parents ask
Are the recipes free?
Yes. The Kitchen is free, with no ads and no sign-up, and nothing your child picks or makes is sent anywhere.
What's the easiest recipe for a 5-year-old?
Ants on a log and the rainbow fruit cup take about ten minutes and need no cooking. A grown-up does the cutting.
Can my child cook alone?
The no-cook recipes are close to it, with a grown-up in the room. Anything hot or sharp is always a grown-up's step, and Crumb stops and says so before it.
Who is Crumb?
Crumb is the Kitchen's tiny chef, a little bun of a cook in a tall wobbly hat who hums while working and reads every step aloud.
More to make: STEM projects for kids, no-bake recipes for kids and the free library.
Checked against how Peabody works on 18 October 2026. Written with help from AI, from Peabody's own code and library. Peabody is a learning app, not an assessment: if you're worried about your child's learning, talk to their teacher.