5 free cooking apps for kids

Have shows like "Cake Boss," "Chopped" and "Cupcake Wars" awakened your children's inner chef? Are they asking for the latest in pretend kitchen toys, like cake pop makers, baking sets and mini chef hats and aprons?

Well to further increase their culinary skills, and to help them channel their inner Julia Child, here are five free apps that encourage kids to be creative in the kitchen without setting off the smoke alarm. You can find them in the App Store on iTunes.com. 

1. Pizza Crazy Chef by TabTale: Kids can prepare digital dough, create sauce and choose from more than 100 toppings. Once the pie is baked, slice it in the pizza shop, box it up and send it out for delivery. Or set a table and select drinks, napkin colors and more. Then share a photo of your pizza with family and friends.

2. Chinese Food! by Crazy Cats: Customize Chinese dishes, create fortune cookies, and share the creations in classic Chinese take-out containers. 

3. Cake Pop Maker by Bake More Cake Maker: This app lets kids create ingredients, stir lavored batters, bake pops and put them on colorful sticks. Finish them off with sprinkles and other confections, or turn the cake pop into a face, a cute animal and more.

4. Cotton Candy by Bluebear Technologies: Choose candy sugar, mix it up and spin the cotton candy in the machine. Then decorate it and even add more flavors. The app also features a hungry chef game that lets kids move the device to feed the chef.

5. Pie Maker by Sunstorm Interactive: This app allows kids to choose pie crust and custom fillings before mixing ingredients together, and then enjoy a pie party at a custom-set table. Additional games include "Top Chop" and "Food Challenge."