25 Easy DIY Kitchen Project Ideas for the Whole Family

Can a family spend too much time together? I don’t think so. It all depends on what you’re doing though. So here are 25 kitchen-based family project ideas that promote familial bonding. Bonus though – they’ll help you save money at home without taking too much time. In fact, they save you time too because if your whole family is involved, you’ll have more hands on deck.

Let’s get into it.

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There are lots of meaningful family projects you can do around the kitchen table. That’s an easy way to do it right, since you’re already there anyway? But before we dig into this, if you’re stuck at all about how you can even mix kitchen life with family life, here’s 5 ways to get your family involved in the kitchen.

So whether it’s a rainy day or you’re just trying to capture some candid pics for your family photo album, you can use these DIY projects. While you work too, you just might be surprised at the conversations or memories that come up! 

Family Project Ideas that Involve Cooking & Eating Really Good Food

I can think of nothing else that makes eating such an enjoyable experience other than having my family members with me when I cook it.

If you don’t know by now, I absolutely love being in the kitchen & eating really good food. But I also really love spending time with my family. So pairing the two by adding some family project ideas into our routine is a great way for me to maximize my two passions.

Here’s some fun activities, especially for younger children that you can do with your family. The best part is the potential of finding some foods that wind up becoming some family favorites!

1. Homemade Bread Baking: Explore different bread recipes as a family or even use this as a family art project! You can make bread from scratch in several different ways – try different flours, shapes, colors even!
2. DIY Pasta Making: Make pasta from scratch together as a family and experiment with different shapes and flavors. 3 easy steps stand between you & fresh ravioli. Get the ingredients (which is really just flour & egg usually), make the pasta, cook the pasta. It’s that simple but boy is it unbelievably incredible! And if your family is on the smaller side – like just you & your spouse maybe, you can double dip by setting this up as an at-home date night. My husband & I did this before we had kids. We made homemade lobster ravioli in our tiny kitchen at the time & it was absolutely hilarious.
3. Homemade Pizza Night: Have a weekly homemade pizza night where each family member creates their own pizza masterpiece. With a little creativity on the toppings, this is sure to be a hit. I mean, who doesn’t love a good slice of pizza? Or the whole thing ahahaha Cheese stuffed, flatbread, pan crust or deep dish. This is a fun family activity at my home too.
4. Homemade Ice Cream Making: Name any other family project ideas that are the perfect way to end a nice summer evening. Make homemade ice cream together as a family using fresh fruit or local ingredients like honey and other creative flavors. I can practically taste it already!
5. Family Apple Cider Pressing: Press apples together as a family to make fresh apple cider or apple juice. This is a really fun way to get your entire family involved but be warned, it can be messy!!! We got to do this last year with a few other families & it was really cool. Talk about a great way to spend family time. It’s like having a snowball fight in the middle of fall! 
6. Homemade Soup Stock: Make homemade soup stock from scratch using leftover vegetable scraps and meat bones. The cool thing about this is not only does it reduce food waste, but it’s a good use of scraps that your kids can learn from an early age. 

8. Homemade Yogurt Making: Learn how to make homemade yogurt together using live cultures and fresh milk. This is also a simple way to introduce the concept of fermentation to your middle school aged kids who’ll have a fun time seeing the change in texture over the course of the culturing.

These kitchen-based family projects provide opportunities for bonding, learning, and embracing self-sufficiency together as a family.

Food Preservation & Fermentation Family Project Ideas

Now, some of my favorite things to do in the kitchen include preserving food. But, you can join me on the fermentation bandwagon this year! I dedicate an entire year to learning a new kitchen skill every year & in 2024, that’s fermenting.

Any one of these different projects are sure to become some of your favorite ways to get your entire family in the kitchen because they’re so easy. Creative activities like these also expose you to different flavor combinations & skillsets.

Use them to explore cultural activities too. Family project ideas that infuse some learning are a hit here. I mean, did you know how fermented foods like kimchi or sauerkraut became a thing? We LOVE kimchi over here, but I didn’t know that it was born out of necessity until we went learning about it. Things you never knew, huh!

And you save money on groceries by making homemade versions of some of it too. Like if you’re a sauce person like my husband (read my lips – saaaauuuuucce), you can easily be spending a decent bit of your grocery budget on marinades, salad dressings & ….sauces!

Another one. If you make your own jam, pair it with that homemade bread idea you read up above then throw in a few eggs & bacon. You got yourself something now! And call me over when it’s time to cook hello.

2. Homemade Fermented Condiments: Experiment with fermenting condiments like mustard, ketchup, and relish to add flavor to meals.
3. DIY Kombucha Brewing: Brew kombucha together as a family and experiment with different flavors and brewing techniques.
4. DIY Fermented Foods: Experiment with fermenting vegetables like carrots, beets, and cucumbers to create probiotic-rich snacks.
5. Fermentation Station: Learn the basics of fermentation and make homemade sauerkraut, kimchi, or kombucha.
6. Canning and Preserving: Spend time preserving seasonal fruits and vegetables together to create homemade jams, pickles, and sauces. Because of how much I enjoy doing this & how important it is to our self-sufficiency, I can’t really think of more family project ideas that make me this excited! But that could be just me. Is it? … Probably yeah ahahaha
7. DIY Pickling Party: Spend a day pickling various vegetables and enjoying the tangy results.
8. Family Jam Sessions: Spend a day making homemade jams and jellies using seasonal fruits and berries.
9. Homemade Cheese Making: Homemade cheese making is a thing! And you can create homemade cheeses like mozzarella or ricotta for your pizza & lasagna. This is a great way to preserve milk if you find yourself swimming in it after buying nearly 10 gallons at once. 

Gardening Family Activities to do Together

I’ll bring this back up. Is spending too much time together a real thing? I don’t think so, but maybe because my family is really pretty amazing. But I did recently read a clip about some easy ways to spend time as a family. It was focused on the upcoming holiday season, but I encourage you to be with your family all the time. Put down devices, say no to some events/people/meet ups & learn to be together. And talk more.

Check your local park for community plots. And during the school year, some schools may even have garden beds for this same reason. 

1. Family Garden Planning: Plan and plant a family garden with a variety of fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Still new to this, but my advice so far is to consider if there’s little habitats or nests nearby since some animals can be very territorial. 
2. Family Foraging Excursions: Go on family foraging trips to find wild herbs, fruits, and mushrooms to incorporate into meals. Always choose a safe place where there’s little risk of falling rocks or poisonous plants. Especially if you aren’t the foraging type yet like us ahahah Get a ranger or enlist the help of friends who do forage regularly until you have better bearings on it all. As long as the place you go is open to the public, this is something you might enjoy in your free time on a family vacation even! Imagine what you’d find in places away from home!
3. DIY Herb Garden: Plant an herb garden together and learn about the benefits of fresh herbs in cooking. I think this is the perfect project because you can do it on a small scale & grow lots of herbs indoors. And the way fresh herbs brighten up a meal is almost indescribable. Trust me, that 7-year old McCormick’s in the cabinet ain’t got nothing on just a few fresh sprigs of cilantro topped on a dish right before serving. 
4. DIY Dried Fruit and Vegetable Snacks: Dry fruits and vegetables together as a family to make nutritious snacks for later. Do it right & you might get positive feedback on this one even if at first a few family members grumble about swapping their chips for veggies versions!
5. DIY Spice Blends: Create custom spice blends as a family and experiment with different flavor combinations. This family craft will put money back in.your pocket over time. I can’t tell you how many times I need taco seasoning or something similar. But who wants the salt-loaded & preservative-laden versions from the store? Buy in bulk to save money, make your own blends, let your family help & enjoy really great tasting food. Period. 
   

Try this super easy, yet delicious taco blend to get started!

Kitchen-y Projects for the Whole Family

These home projects aren’t entirely focused on food, but they’re fun creative projects you can do with the whole family. You don’t have to be in the kitchen necessarily either.

1. Family Recipe Revamp: Take family recipes and give them a modern twist, creating updated versions together. You can unravel a lot of family heritage here too as you unpack the stories or origins of certain dishes.
2. Family Cookbook Creation: Compile family favorite recipes (maybe even the ones above that your revamped!) into a personalized family cookbook to pass down through generations. You can even create seasonal cookbooks or chapters like “Our Family’s Favorite Holiday Season Desserts”.
3. Family Meal Planning: Sit down together as a family and plan out meals for the week or month, incorporating everyone’s favorite dishes. This also gives your family a sneak peek into what it takes to effectively manage food resources. I’ve got tips on how to meal plan so you actually save money & time here.

So there you have it. Hopefully you see how much fun you can be having with these kitchen-based family projects. But if you got this far & are thinking, “Wait. Why on earth would I invite chaos into my kitchen when I got work to do?!” Well, here’s my answer! Why you should include your family in the kitchen.

While you’ll be saving money & time by having the help with these family project ideas, you’ll also be creating a legacy too. And that’s going to last longer than the few hundred dollars you save over the course of time.

You’ve got this, lovely.