Help your kids learn about food and safe kitchen techniques these school holidays – and earn yourself a few delicious treats as a particularly good reward.

It’s up to you to decide what level of involvement the young ones can have (such as chopping or mixing hot liquids), but kids of any age can enjoy and learn from these five recipes that you can make together these holidays.

Fruit ice blocks

It’s another scorcher summer day, and the kids are asking for ice cream – what are you to do? Fruit ice blocks are simple and easy, and you can find the plastic molds in almost any department store or even $2 shop. Begin by throwing in bits of kiwifruit, strawberry, mango, and pear (or whatever you have handy), then top up each with coconut water or blended watermelon – this will act as the flavoured ice that will hold it all together. Freeze and enjoy!

Homemade pizzas

There are few foods so universally loved as a pizza. Let your kids be the chefs this time and create a platter of toppings they can add to their mini pizzas. As well as the standard sauce and cheese base, go for things like mushrooms, capsicum, pepperoni, rocket, sun-dried tomatoes, onion, and sausage.

To make your preparation even easier, use pita bread as the base for each one!

Traffic light jelly

Ask the kids to help with the stirring as you do the hard parts of pouring so they can make traffic light jellies. Start with making a lime jelly, and then pour a little into 6-7 glass cups (or even just one large glass bowl). Once it has set, make orange (or lemon) jelly and add this on top of the green layer before topping it off with a layer of raspberry jelly for the red light. It’s a good way to teach the younger kids about traffic lights, and all ages will enjoy eating them.

 Fruit skewers

 With so much fresh fruit everywhere, fruit skewers are a fun way to encourage your kids to get stuck in. Chop your favourite fruits (aim for a mix of colours) into bite-sized pieces, and let the kids build their own skewers. Perhaps even drizzle them (the skewers, that is) with a little dark chocolate to finish.

Yoghurt bark

Yoghurt bark is extremely fun and healthy(ish). Start with a tub of your favourite Greek yoghurt, and pour it into a parchment-paper-lined pan until it is roughly half an inch thick. Then, sprinkle! Anything goes – you can cover the yoghurt with blueberries and raspberries, or even add some crunch with a fun cereal.

Freeze it for a few hours until completely frozen, then break up and enjoy as a cool and refreshing snack on those hot days.