4 Quick & Easy Cooking Preschool Monthly Theme Science & STEAM Activities for Little Kids

Here are four quick & easy cooking preschool monthly theme science & STEAM activities. Teach little kids how to set the table and use kitchen tools. Pretend to bake together. And of course let them mix and measure to their heart’s content. I’m willing to bet that your little kids will be begging for more! 

Hello friends! 

I thought it’d be fun to share a few quick & easy cooking preschool monthly theme science & STEAM activities.

I’ve spent lots of time lately going back through our favorite preschool monthly themes and in the process I accidentally stumbled across a few that the little guy thought were all kinds of awesome.

And you know what they all have in common? 

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They somehow relate to cooking and/or being in the kitchen. How ironic is that, right? Lol… And yep, they’re all STEAM activities too, which are of course great for letting little kids explore science and math on their own terms. 

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The first one on the list was the Let’s Have A Meal Together Dramatic Play Investigation Station. Basically, all you need for this is a table and some plastic dishes.

Of course the entire point of the activity is for little kids to set the table and obviously the little guy needed no instruction as is probably the case for most preschoolers. 

Practical life skills for the win! And let’s not forget about giving little kids confidence in their ability to be independent. There are so many wonderful reasons for preschoolers to learn everyday things like this. 

Another quick & easy easy activity was this Kitchen Tools Investigation Station for Little Kids. We used dried beans, a few containers, and some kitchen tools to explore picking up beans with different utensils and dropping them into containers of various sizes. 

These types of activities are not only great for fine motor skills, but also for creative thinking and problem solving. 

Our Preschool Food Groups Theme Bakery Investigation Station was a huge hit too! The little guy loves pretend play. So much so that we recently got him a mud kitchen for on the deck and it’s already getting tons of use. 

Talk about a wonderful way for preschoolers to learn about cooking! And of course it’s such an important real world skill too. 

One toy that was for sure a great investment was the little guy’s play kitchen* that we got from Ikea. It’s definitely paid for itself over and over again. I love watching my little kids pretend to cook and bake and especially now that baby girl is starting to join in on the fun sometimes. 

Little kids want to be exactly like us and when they can do the things that we do with kid-sized tools they get so excited about it. 

We have a mix of cooking stuff from the toy store as well as lots of the real thing. The little guy has a set of mixing bowls that were originally ours and a colander as well.

There are also a few sets of real measuring cups and spoons in the studio that he plays with. I like that the measurements are obvious and accurate and that he can practice math & reasoning skills while he plays. 

I also love sensory activities and this Preschool Food Groups Sensory Loose Parts in the Kitchen Investigation Station was no exception.

It’s been a few months and not only does the little guy still talk about this activity, but the aqua mixing bowl filled with loose parts is still in his play kitchen. I’m thinking it’s probably not going anywhere anytime soon. 

The little guy loved every one of these quick & easy cooking preschool monthly theme activities and I’m sure that your little kids will too! 

Don’t forget to stop by next week if you’re interested in seeing what we’re up to with our Bubbles, Boats & Floats theme. And if you missed this year’s preschool homeschool space post, you can check it out here.

Looking for more insight & inspiration? Here are the top 10 most popular posts from The Keeper of the Memories. You’re definitely not going to want to miss these!