Holiday Gift Guide 2008: Gifts for little chefs

November 22, 2:27 PMEarly Childhood Parenting ExaminerAngele Sionna

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Little chefs love to get in there and get their hands dirty. It's all part of the fun! Plus kids learn a lot by cooking. You can teach counting and colors and more. Here are some gift ideas for your little chefs this holiday...

Organic Fruit Basket and Veggie Crates by Under the Nile are a good way to get baby to love his or her fruits and veggies early. They're made from organic cotton too, so you can feel good about your little one putting these in their mouths. You can also buy the fruits and veggies individually for stocking stuffers.

For toddlers, check out HABA's Mixed Food Basket. It has an assortment of wooden fruits, veggies, cheese, and more. This is a great way for kids to play with their food without making a mess. My toddler loves to play with these and plastic plates.

Girls Gourmet Cupcake Maker by Jakks Pacific is a great gift for sweet tooth kids eight and up. It lets kids feel in control. Kids make cupcakes in the microwave then use the cool frosting machine to top them beautifully.

Kids Central Kitchen Baking Kits are perfect gifts for hands on chefs form pirates to princesses. They come with colorful, smiling "happy mixing spoons," cookie cutters, cookie mixes, mixing bowls and more. Everything in them is top notch. My girls and I love their products. The bowl is great for kids because it has a non-slip bottom, which makes it easier for them to stir without creating a big mess.

Kids Central Kitchen also has inexpensive chef hats that add to the cooking fun. My 2.5 likes to wear hers as part of her chef uniform when we cook. They have a reusable non-woven fabric hat for $1.49!  For a few bucks more, they also sell a washable, adjustable chefs hat.

Head Chefs by Fiesta Products are awesome. They have little suction cup feet and silly heads. All the Little Chefs are made from BPA-free silicone in bright colors.

Keep your little chefs neat and clean with the cool aprons by Bella Tunno made just for kids. They come in several different designs and are high quality construction - and washable! There are designs for boys and girls too.

Enchanted Thyme is a story book you can read to the kids with recipes for each chapter. This is a fun way to combine two things kids love - eating and food. It is a book for older children but younger ones can enjoy it as well. Plus the recipes are whimsical. Check out one of the recipes in the book HERE.

Crumbs Bake Shop in a Box has the tools you need for family baking plus a fun picture book to get little ones really interested. Inside the box is the book, measuring cups, and wipe-clean recipe cards.

Handstand Kids Cookbook Kits are more than just cookbooks. They come with cooking accessories and also teach food and cooking terms in English and another language, depending on the region of food in the cookbook. For example, the Handstand Kids Italian Cookbook comes in a pizza box. Inside is a chefs hat and the kids cookbook. The cookbook itself has a guide in the front with the Italian and English names with pictures of cooking utensils and foods, fun illustrations throughout and recipes (like the Leaning Tower of Eggplant) that kids will love organized by level of difficulty. Mama mia that's a fun book. Handstand Kids also has kids cooking classes for families that live in the Los Angeles area.