My children love having the chance to get involved in making rotis. It is almost like playing with play dough for them, but with the added benefit of getting to eat the bread at the end of the roti making activity.
The rotis don’t come out perfectly, but I view it more as having fun and a learning experience. They feel so proud of the rotis they make and are really keen to eat it up!
It is really easy to make, you just mix chapati flour and water (if you are not sure how much, go with a guideline of 3 parts flour to 1 part water, but adjust if necessary)
Then knead it until it turns into a soft dough. If you want to you can add some oil which will make it softer, and you can also add some salt as optional if you want to. If you don’t have chapati flour in your house, you can try it with any flour – it will still be fun for the kids and still makes a similar kind of bread!
Put some flour onto the table so that the dough won’t stick while the children make their shapes. I let them have their fun using cookie cutters to choose whichever shapes they like
As you can see I let them keep the dough a bit thicker, it just makes it easier for them to make the shapes and enjoy the activity but your rotis will come out a bit thicker than a normal one!
Taking out the shapes from the dough without tearing them can be a bit tricky for the younger ones, but good for the fine motor skills!
You can just cook it in a non stick frying pan, doesn’t matter if you don’t have a proper tava. I do them in a pan from Ikea.
It won’t take long, just a couple of minutes each side. I sometimes just start doing some while the kids are finishing making the other shapes from the rest of their dough. For children that are slightly older, you could let them do this part too but I feel mine are too young.
They always love eating the ones they made! Especially my 4 year old he always asks for more! As you can see its quite a thick roti because I don’t roll it thinly for them – but taste is fine!
The children can make any shape they like! The small star shaped ones are good for my youngest who’s not yet two.
If your children like play dough then they will probably like this activity, and you end up with half of their dinner made too so it is a handy multi tasking activity 😀
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
Miss M loves cooking and in particular doughy mixtures – this would be perfect for her and she’d love cutting out shapes. Looks like your boys had fun!
i love roti! They are so nice to eat it plain!
I love this idea. Going to make some of these for Dexter – they’ll be lovely with cheese and tomato x
This looks like great fun I might just have to give it a try
That’s brilliant. I buy a big bag of chapati flour every now and again and we have them with milder curries, but I never for a second thought of letting the children make shapes – they’d love little people! 🙂
How cute and fun! I bet my little one would love this! Am going to try this next week! Thanks! 😀
This looks fab – such a good idea! I can see this coming into the classroom!
I can’t believe I missed this post, this is a terrific idea. I’ve pinned it. I’m definitely going to try it with Bud.
I always find the kids are much keener to eat food they’ve helped to make and this looks great fun. Thanks so much for linking up to our Parenting Pin-it Party.
I absolutely love roti – and what a great idea for an activity with kids too. I am going to try this with Grace :). Thank you for sharing with PoCoLo x
wow, great idea, i will certainly use it in the future
Anna this is a brilliant idea! Kids kept quiet + dinner made = win 🙂 #pintorials
My two love helping in the kitchen and I think this would be a really good activity for them – simple to make and I know they would love eating them! Thanks for linking up to #Playtime
What a cool idea! I make Naan at home all the time (or perhaps I should really call it Roti… do you know what the difference is?) and have never thought to make shapes… much kids will love this! Thanks!
to me naan is the one which is more puffed up and roti is the thinner one?