My toddlers love strawberries. Chopping up strawberries has been a great kitchen activity for my kiddos… and I love that when making a dessert the whole family will enjoy my toddlers can help with one part that is safe and simple! Cooking with toddlers can be incorporated into your own cooking routine.

When I think about strawberries, I can’t but help hearken back to our years living in Oregon. We spent 3 wonderful years in a town outside called Forest Grove. It was a small college town, halfway between the Oregon Coast and downtown Portland, and if we drove 5 minutes north or south of our neighborhood we were instantly in farmland. There were berry fields, u-pick farms, fields of corn and other agriculture on both sides.

I loved the Oregon berry season! If you have never experienced the beauty that is an Oregon hood strawberry put it on your bucket list – it’s like eating a piece of candy more than a fruit! The grocery store strawberries just don’t compare. Oh the juice, the flavor! We bought a stand-up freezer especially for our berries. We would go out during May and pick them by the handful, bring them home by the bucket, wash them and freeze them for the rest of the year… using them for smoothies, freezer jam or whatever else tickled our fancy.

Chopping soft fruits like strawberries is a great way to get toddlers helping in the kitchen! Cooking with toddlers is fun when you can give them one activity to focus on, that doesn’t include anything sharp or hot. I loved watching my kids experiment with their berries and little dull plastic knives, figuring out the best way to cut and slice. My kids attention span only gave me two chopped strawberries for my pie, so I did the rest, but maybe yours will keep going!!

And I am sharing my all-time favorite fresh strawberry pie. I distinctly remember the first time I ate this – I was a teenager and my aunt Merlene had made it for a big family dinner. I immediately wanted the recipe and have kept it close ever since! I make it at least once every summer with our plethora of seasonal strawberries. I love that the strawberries are completely fresh, not baked at all, so you get all the deliciousness of fresh strawberries in a yummy graham cracker crust. Enjoy!

You may also like this Simple Fruit Salad – toddlers can pull grapes off the vine, squeeze limes or chop strawberries to help make it. What other recipes do you love where at toddler can help chop strawberries? I’d love to hear about it!

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Aunt Merlene's Fresh Strawberry Pie

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 3 Tbsp strawberry jello
• pinch of salt
• 1 graham cracker crust
• 2 lb fresh strawberries
• whipping cream or cool whip to taste

Instructions

TODDLER TASKS

1. Chop strawberries! You can decide what look you are going for in this pie - you can just chop off the green and leave the berries whole, or chop them in half, or go for smaller pieces - it just depends what size and look you want the strawberries to have sitting in the pie crust.

ADULT TASKS

1. Mix sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Add 1 cup water and whisk to get rid of any lumps of cornstarch. Bring mixture to a boil for 1-2 minutes until it thickens.

2. Add jello and salt. Mix well and allow to cool completely at room temperature.

3. Fold sauce into a large bowl of fresh chopped strawberries. Pour into graham cracker crust.

4. Chill in the fridge for 2 hours before serving. The sauce will thicken and the pie pieces will slice less messily if it is chilled.

5. Serve with whipping cream or cool whip if desired.

Recipe Notes

Thanks for the recipe Aunt Merlene! It's a keeper!