Frequently Asked Questions

Dinky Bakers is a children’s kitchen learning brand built around the idea that cooking is one of the most natural, low-pressure ways for children to learn. Through recipes and activities you’ll find on the site, children build maths, literacy, fine and gross motor skills, science understanding and confidence — all while having fun in the kitchen with you.

Everything here is rooted in the Stages Not Ages framework — a deliberate move away from age labels that lets every child take part at their own pace.

Hello! I’m Laura — a mum of three based in Buckinghamshire, and the founder of Dinky Bakers. I worked for five years as a Learning Support Assistant in a primary school, supporting children who learn in lots of different ways. That experience, alongside parenting my own three, is what shaped this brand.

You can read more about my story on the About page.

Because not every child thrives in a textbook. As an LSA I saw children switch off when learning felt too rigid, and as a parent I knew there had to be another way to engage them. The kitchen turned out to be it — children naturally lean in when there’s mixing, pouring, smelling and tasting going on, and the learning slips in alongside.

Dinky Bakers is about bringing the magic back to learning, and giving parents the tools to do it without needing to be a teacher.

Yes — and that’s been a non-negotiable from day one. The Stages Not Ages framework was specifically designed to suit children who learn differently, develop at their own pace, or face circumstances that make traditional learning harder. There are no age labels, no expectations of what a child “should” be able to do, and every recipe gives you flexibility to adapt to your child.

Stages Not Ages is the heart of everything at Dinky Bakers. Instead of asking “is this recipe right for a 4-year-old?”, it asks “is this recipe right for an Explorer, a Helper, or a Little Chef?” — three stages that describe what a child can do, not how old they are.

Children develop at very different rates, and age-labelled activities can leave parents feeling like their child is behind, or that the activity is suddenly “too young” for them. Stages remove all of that pressure.

You can read the full philosophy on the Stages Not Ages page.

🌱 Explorer — touching, smelling, watching, choosing. Sensory and curious. The Explorer isn’t doing the cooking yet, but they’re absorbing everything. Pouring pre-measured ingredients, washing fruit, tearing herbs.

🌟 Helper — doing more of the work alongside you. Measuring, spooning, mixing, rolling, counting. Following a 2–3 step recipe with support. Building real skills with you on standby.

👨‍🍳 Little Chef — flying mostly solo. Reading the recipe, weighing on scales, making creative decisions, using a child-safe knife with confidence. You’re nearby for support, but they’re driving.

You’ll know best — but here’s a quick way to think about it. If your child mostly wants to watch and explore, they’re an Explorer. If they want to do things alongside you, they’re a Helper. If they’re asking to do it themselves, they’re moving into Little Chef.

Don’t overthink it. The brilliant thing about stages is your child might be a Helper at mixing and an Explorer at slicing — that’s completely fine. Use whichever stage fits the task, not the child as a whole.

Yes — and they will. Children move up and down stages all the time, depending on the task, the day, their mood, and how comfortable they feel. A child who confidently weighs ingredients (Little Chef) might still want you to do the slicing for them (Helper). That’s not a problem — that’s the whole point.

Absolutely — that’s one of the things Stages Not Ages does best. The same recipe can run for an Explorer, a Helper and a Little Chef simultaneously, with each child owning the parts that suit them. Each Dinky Bakers recipe shows you exactly how to do this.

Honestly? You don’t need to push it. Often the best thing is to simply start cooking yourself and let curiosity do the rest — children naturally wander over when they see something interesting happening.

A lovely way to begin is to give them ownership of one small part of the recipe. Tearing herbs, sprinkling toppings, choosing a mix-in. It doesn’t have to be at the worktop — the kitchen table works just as well.

Most of all, make it fun. A little praise goes a long way — the more positive the experience, the more they’ll want to come back.

Completely normal. The recipes here are short and forgiving for exactly this reason. If you get halfway through and they wander off, you’ve still had a brilliant ten minutes together — and you can finish it yourself (with a cup of tea).

It’s not a failure. Their attention will build over time the more you do it.

A few brilliant first recipes:

• A simple cheese sandwich — no heat, lots of choice, builds independence fast
• No-bake energy balls — no oven, properly hands-in stuff, perfect for rainy days
• Overnight oats — prep the night before, ready in the morning, zero cooking

Browse the full collection on the Recipes page.

Involve them in choosing and preparing meals. Talk about the colours on their plate, where the food came from, and how certain foods help their bodies. Keep it conversational rather than instructional — a daily chat goes much further than a lecture.

And remember: you don’t need to have all the answers. Half the fun is when I don’t know either, and we go and find out together.

Not at all. The point isn’t that they eat it, it’s that they made it. Children are far more likely to try something they’ve helped prepare, but it can take many exposures before that first taste. Keep it pressure-free, and let them lead.

Clean as you go where you can — children pick up the habit beautifully if you model it. Or try a 10-minute timer race to see how much you can clear before it goes off. Pop some music on and make it part of the fun, not a chore tagged on at the end. A “kitchen tidy playlist” is a brilliant trick.

Start with simple, child-friendly tools and build up from there:

• Measuring cups and kitchen scales
• Silicone spatulas and wooden spoons
• A child-safe knife (nylon or crinkle-cutter style)
• A rotary cheese grater (much safer than a box grater)
• Biscuit cutters and rolling pins
• A dinner knife for spreading butter, cream cheese, etc.

Whatever they use, teach them to handle it carefully and put it back in its place when finished.

This is exactly why we use stages, not ages. A child-safe knife can come in at the Helper stage with full supervision — soft fruits like banana, cucumber, strawberries are great first cuts. A proper sharp knife belongs in Little Chef territory, and even then with you nearby and full attention on the task.

The signs they’re ready: they can follow the safety rules, they’re not rushing, and they take it seriously. If any of those are missing, they’re not ready yet — and that’s fine.

Treat hob and oven separately to knife work — they need their own progression. At Explorer and Helper stage, children watch from a safe distance and you handle anything hot. Little Chefs can begin to use the hob and oven with you right there, learning to use oven gloves, manage timers, and respect the heat.

Never leave a child unsupervised near heat, regardless of stage.

A few golden rules that work for any stage:

• Wash hands and wipe down the worktop before you start
• Keep hot pans, sharp tools and electrical appliances out of reach unless they’re being supervised
• Cut food into child-safe sizes — whole nuts, large grapes and big chocolate chips can be choking hazards
• Always check for allergies before introducing a new ingredient
• Start with simple tasks and build up — don’t rush the progression

Listen to them and don’t push. If they don’t want to crack the egg, that’s fine — they can watch you, or do a different bit. Nerves usually fade with familiarity, so keep offering and let them come to it in their own time. Forcing rarely works and often makes the next attempt harder.

Sign up to the Dinky Bakers email list and you’ll get the One Recipe, Three Ways recipe card free — the same recipe scaffolded across all three stages, so you can see the framework in action.

Plus every recipe and activity on the website is free to read and try at home.

The Starter Kit (£9) is the perfect first step for parents who want a guided start. It includes:

• Five beginner-friendly recipes designed for real kitchens and real children
• The full Stages Not Ages framework explained
• Learning benefits for every recipe — what your child is actually learning while they cook
• Conversation prompt cards to spark chat in the kitchen
• A skills tracker chart and a Little Chef certificate

It’s an instant digital PDF download you can print or use on a tablet. Get the Starter Kit →

All Dinky Bakers digital products are PDFs. You’ll get the file instantly after purchase, and you can either print it at home or use it on a tablet, laptop or phone in the kitchen. Most parents find a tablet propped up next to the worktop is the easiest setup.

Not at all. Every recipe, every activity, and every blog post on the site is free. The paid products (the Starter Kit, the Kitchen Learning Bundle, the Little Chefs for Life modules) are there if you want a more structured, guided journey — but they’re entirely optional.

New recipes, activities and blog posts are added regularly — usually every week. The best way to keep up is to join the email list, where I share new posts, seasonal ideas and behind-the-scenes bits as they go live.

Please do! All free content on the website is yours to share — send the link to a friend, save it to Pinterest, drop it in a WhatsApp group. The more parents finding their way to the kitchen with their children, the better.

Paid downloads are licensed for personal use within your own family, so please don’t redistribute the PDF files.

I’m always happy to chat. If you’re a brand whose values genuinely align with the Dinky Bakers ethos, or a school or early years setting interested in licensing the framework, please get in touch via the Contact page.

You’ll find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Lots of behind-the-scenes content, quick recipe ideas, and the occasional kitchen disaster (mine, not yours).

I’d genuinely love to hear from you. Drop me a message via the Contact page and I’ll come back to you. If it’s a question worth adding to this page, I will — that way other parents can benefit too.