Squirrels Cooking Activities: Fun Outdoor Food Ideas

Cooking is a brilliant way for Squirrels to learn practical skills while having fun.

They can practise measuring, mixing, preparing ingredients and working together, while also learning about food, hygiene and staying safe around cooking equipment.

You don’t need complicated recipes.

For Squirrels, the best activities are usually simple enough that they can get involved themselves.

Whether you’re cooking at the meeting place, outdoors or on camp, give them small jobs they can complete successfully and let them see the result at the end.

1. Make Your Own Wrap

Give Squirrels a selection of ingredients and let them create their own wrap.

You could provide vegetables, cheese, cooked meat or other suitable fillings.

It’s an easy activity because there’s no complicated cooking involved.

It also gives Squirrels the opportunity to make their own choices.

2. Fruit Kebabs

Use pieces of fruit to create colourful kebabs.

Squirrels can choose their own combinations and arrange them however they like.

For younger children, consider using blunt or child-appropriate utensils and have adults handle anything sharp.

3. No-Cook Picnic

Challenge Squirrels to prepare their own simple picnic.

They might make sandwiches, prepare fruit and choose suitable snacks.

Talk about what makes a good picnic and how food should be stored safely outdoors.

4. Campfire Toasting

If you have a suitable, permitted campfire and the appropriate supervision, simple food cooked over a fire can be a memorable experience.

Keep the activity extremely controlled.

Adults should manage the fire and make sure Squirrels understand where they can safely stand and move.

5. Pizza Pitta

Give each Squirrel a pitta bread and let them add suitable toppings.

Depending on your equipment and risk assessment, adults can then handle the cooking.

It’s a simple way to let young people prepare something that feels like a proper meal.

6. Build a Balanced Meal

Give Squirrels pictures or examples of different foods.

Ask them to create a meal containing a variety of food types.

It can become a simple discussion about what different foods provide and why variety matters.

Keep the focus on learning rather than judging what anyone eats.

7. Blind Taste Test

Use safe, familiar foods and ask Squirrels to identify them without seeing them.

They could try different fruits, vegetables or other suitable ingredients.

Always check allergies and dietary requirements first, and don’t pressure anyone to taste something they’re uncomfortable with.

8. Recipe Relay

Split the Squirrels into teams.

Give each team a simple recipe and ask them to work out what needs to happen first, second and third.

You can provide picture cards for younger Squirrels.

This makes following instructions into a game.

9. Decorate Biscuits

Give Squirrels plain biscuits and suitable toppings.

They can create their own designs.

This works particularly well as a quieter activity during a meeting or camp.

10. Breakfast Challenge

Ask Squirrels what they think makes a good camping breakfast.

Then let them help prepare a simple breakfast appropriate to your facilities.

It can introduce basic food preparation while also teaching them about getting ready for an active day outdoors.

11. Make Trail Mix

Give Squirrels a selection of suitable ingredients and let them create their own trail mix.

They can choose combinations and measure portions.

Be particularly careful with nuts and other allergens. Consider whether your venue has a nut-free policy and choose ingredients accordingly.

12. Sandwich Challenge

Give teams the same selection of ingredients.

Their challenge is to create the most interesting sandwich.

You can judge it on presentation, creativity or simply give everyone a silly award.

The important part is letting Squirrels experiment.

13. Soup From Scratch

For a supervised cooking activity, Squirrels can help prepare vegetables and other ingredients for a simple soup.

Adults should control knives and hot equipment according to the activity’s risk assessment.

Once prepared, everyone can enjoy the finished meal together.

14. Cooking Without a Kitchen

Challenge Squirrels to think about how people cooked before modern kitchens.

What equipment might they have used?

How would they keep food warm?

Where would they get water?

This can lead naturally into a discussion about outdoor cooking and camping.

15. Measuring Challenge

Give Squirrels ingredients and simple measurements.

Can they measure the correct amount?

You can make this into a team game.

It helps develop practical skills while introducing the importance of following a recipe accurately.

16. Food Hygiene Game

Turn hygiene into a quick quiz.

Ask:

“Should you wash your hands before cooking?”

“Should raw and cooked food be kept separate?”

“What should happen if food has been left somewhere warm for too long?”

Keep the questions simple and use the activity to reinforce good habits.

17. Design a Camp Menu

Give teams the challenge of planning a day’s food for a fictional camp.

They need to think about:

Breakfast.

Lunch.

Dinner.

Snacks.

Drinks.

Ask them to explain their choices.

This introduces planning as well as cooking.

18. Cooking Equipment Hunt

Lay out safe cooking equipment and ask Squirrels to identify what each item is used for.

A spoon.

A bowl.

A measuring jug.

A saucepan.

A chopping board.

A whisk.

You can then ask them to put the equipment into the order they’d need for a particular recipe.

19. Recipe From Pictures

For younger Squirrels, replace written instructions with pictures.

Show:

Ingredient → Mix → Prepare → Cook → Eat

Ask them to put the pictures in the correct order.

This is a simple way of introducing the idea of following a recipe.

20. The Big Squirrel Cook-Off

Finish with a team cooking challenge.

Give each team the same basic ingredients and a simple objective.

Perhaps they need to create a snack, design a sandwich or prepare part of a picnic.

Don’t make the competition too serious.

Give out awards for things like:

Best teamwork

Most creative

Best presentation

Best team name

That way, everyone has a chance to succeed.

Give Squirrels Real Jobs

The best cooking activities aren’t demonstrations where adults do everything.

Give Squirrels jobs they can safely manage.

They can measure.

They can mix.

They can arrange ingredients.

They can follow instructions.

They can help clean up.

Adults can take responsibility for the parts that carry greater risk.

This gives young people a genuine sense of achievement.

Cooking Is About More Than Food

Cooking activities can develop lots of other skills.

Squirrels practise teamwork when they share jobs.

They develop independence by following instructions.

They practise maths when measuring ingredients.

They learn about hygiene and responsibility.

They also learn that mistakes aren’t necessarily a disaster.

If a sandwich looks strange, you can still eat it.

If a recipe doesn’t quite work, you can work out what happened.

That’s all part of learning.

Don’t Forget the Cleanup

Cleaning up should be part of the activity rather than something adults do afterwards.

Squirrels can help clear their workspace, put away suitable equipment and dispose of rubbish.

Make sure adults handle anything involving sharp, hot or otherwise hazardous equipment.

Leaving the cooking area clean is part of being a responsible cook.

Final Thoughts

Cooking gives Squirrels an opportunity to create something themselves and then enjoy the result.

Keep recipes simple, make activities hands-on and give young people meaningful jobs.

Whether they’re making sandwiches at a meeting or helping prepare food at camp, cooking can become another way for Squirrels to build confidence and independence.

🍳 THE BIG IDEA

Let Squirrels do as much of the cooking as they safely can.

Give them jobs.
Let them make choices.
Let them experiment.
Let them learn from mistakes.

With sensible supervision and good food safety, cooking can be one of the most rewarding practical activities in the Squirrels programme.