Here’s the lowdown on surviving the school holidays even though your aspiring chefs are keen to get into the kitchen space.

Get the recipe right.

When choosing holiday recipes, make sure they fit your child’s skill levels to avoid frustration all around. An older child will have the patience and coordination to help you make mince tarts and gingerbread men. However, a toddler will be better suited rolling bliss balls or dropping the fruit into the blender for a festive frappe, under your watchful eye.

Waiting game.

Choose a dish that’s age-appropriate in terms of waiting times. Younger children will prefer something they can get instant gratification from, such as a fruit salad or a smoothie, whereas older children will be patient enough to wait for the jellies to set and the pavlova to bake.

Ice, ice baby.

If you’ve never made ice cream with your children, the Christmas holidays provide the perfect opportunity. There’s no need for an ice cream machine – you can make a lovely, healthy ice cream using frozen milk ice cubes, fresh fruit and minimal icing sugar whizzed in a high-powered blender (try this Avocado Coconut Ice Cream for a delicious way to add some extra green to your child’s day). Or, skip the dairy and make an instant sorbet using frozen banana pieces and some Summery passionfruit. Ice blocks are another easy frozen treat. Just blend up any smoothie recipe or fresh-squeezed juice, pour it into moulds, add a popsicle stick, and in a few hours your child can have a super-healthy frozen treat. Yum!

Festive twist.

You can give any of your child’s favourite recipes a yuletide twist by adding some red and green ingredients. Whizz some raspberries or mint leaves through vanilla ice cream, or use cherry tomatoes and peas to decorate a festive pizza. Using Christmas-inspired shapes is another way to create a festive twist. Pikelet batter can be poured into Santa-shaped cutters in the frying pan, biscuit dough can be cut out into snowflakes and jellies can be poured into star moulds.

In-dough-pendence!

It can be really hard letting your child have free reign to make mistakes in the kitchen, but this is the best way for them to learn. Making biscuits or pizza is a great holiday activity, but rather than taking over your child’s attempts, let him have his own kid-friendly kitchen utensils and his own ingredients which you don’t mind if he ruins. He can watch how you do it before attempting his own creations. When making my Spiced Christmas Biscuits, for example, I like to give my son his own baking tray, rolling pin, cut-out shapes and little portion of dough. That way I can get onto cutting out the rest of the dough in perfect peace without him squishing everything, while he gets the delight of making his very own creations. Another trick is to put a flat ice pack under your child’s baking tray to keep his dough nice and cool while he works. If it stays chilled, it’s much easier to handle.

Home grown.

If you have any fruit or vegetables growing in your garden, take some time to pick them with your children as part of your festive food adventures. If you don’t have space for a garden, establishing a couple of herb pots is the perfect tool for teaching kids about where food comes from. Once picked, they can be used in pesto or a green frappe – both are fail-proof recipes your kids might like to try. Studies have shown that children who grow their own ingredients are more likely to eat them, so it’s a great way to help prevent fussiness over those flecks of green!

Watch the sugar.

Cooking with kids ideally shouldn’t involve a sugar overload, particularly during the silly season when there tends to be a lot of treats on offer. Say goodbye to refined white sugar and instead sweeten your baking with healthier fruit and vegetable purees, such as apple and pumpkin. Adding a banana to your pancake mix and muffin batter is another way to cut the white sugar – just whizz it up in the mixing bowl along with your other ingredients.

When you have made a sweet treat, cut it into smaller pieces or make a mini version so that you can still serve your child one, even two, portions of her favourite food without her overloading on the sweet stuff.

Festive Gifts.

You can save yourself hours of schlepping through the shops by baking Christmas gifts with your children instead. Dotted with red and green, these Pistachio Cranberry Muffins make a delicious Christmas present for all ages or, for something savoury, these sesame cheese biscuits are always gratefully received. Edible Christmas tree decorations are another idea – most hard biscuit recipes work well. Just remember to pop a whole through each biscuit before baking so that it can be hung from the tree with string. For a cooler alternative to a baked gift, homemade ice cream can be packaged into little tubs and tied with ribbon – so long as you have a speedy delivery.

Early days.

If you have a baby in the house, let her join in the festive cooking fun by bringing her into the kitchen. Her extraordinary baby brain will soak up your every move and she can learn so much just by watching. As she sits in his highchair, explain to her that you’re chopping the avocado to make guacamole for the Christmas party. Give her a piece to squish in her hands. Pop her on your hip as you stir the custard. Let her play with a whisk and some measuring cups. A lot will go over her head, but she’ll still take plenty on board and have loads of fun at the same time.

Although it requires tons of patience, particularly in the Summer heat, involving your children in cooking will eventually pay dividends. Sending a child out into the world knowing how to cook is one of the best lifelong gifts you can give them. Yes, there’ll be mess, but hopefully the grins will make it worthwhile. Merry Christmas!