Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays for baking fun treats! I love the different shades of pinks, reds and purples. It just puts me in a good mood! Lately my toddler has been very into baking with me and sugar cookies are one of her favorites. So we had some fun with our kid cookie decorating activity, making heart shaped cookies for the holiday. Now I know what you’re thinking…baking with a toddler sounds like a mess! Yes that’s true it can be messy…but don’t fear. I’ve put together some helpful tips to make this activity worth your while. Spoiler alert!! You don’t need to be a “baker” to do this activity, I’ll give you the low down on easy short cuts!
If you are cool as a cucumber and don’t need convincing feel free to skip ahead to the kid cookie decorating activity!
Soapbox:
I’m going to jump on my soapbox here to convince you that you can have fun baking with your toddler. I’m definitely not the patient type, but my 25 month old has taught me to channel my inner zen. As I type this I am 3 days away from giving birth to my second child…so forgive me if part of this is a self pep talk!
Ok so why is baking with your toddler good for them? These activities are amazing learning opportunities for your child. They are developing basic motor and life skills. Simply by placing M&M’s onto a cookie or pouring sugar into a bowl. They are learning to turn their hands a certain way, hold a cup, keep things in a contained space, etc. It’s also something they can find success in, maybe they can’t tie their shoes yet…but those little moments when they get all the flour in the bowl and look at you for approval and praise are so worth it! It helps build their confidence! It also teaches them textures, shapes and weight of objects. My daughter recently started counting the cookies and candies which obviously made me so excited! When you first start out doing this you’ll be learning too. How to keep calm if there’s a spill, how to calm them if they get frustrated and ways to make this activity a success.
The more you do it the better they will get. Then they can start using different utensils, new techniques and working with messier ingredients. When I first began baking with my daughter I didn’t let her crack the eggs, now I let her and it’s her favorite part. Sure sometimes a full egg is on the counter but hey, scrape it into the bowl and charge on! If you have older children they’ll enjoy this activity too. Try to incorporate piping bags and really let them do their own thing to spark creativity!
Ok enough of that…maybe you’re not intimidated at all. However, if you are…like I was…I hope this helps!
Helpful tips when baking with your toddler:
Whether you are baking from scratch or just doing this kids cookie decorating activity, here are some helpful tips to get you through with ease!
Set up ahead: Having the activity ready before you introduce it to your toddler will make a huge difference. If you need to just pop the TV on for 5-10 minutes so you can calmly prep, do it! Your child will then have your full attention and be able to learn and even show some patience…maybe! Whenever my daughter has to wait for mommy to grab supplies she goes into tantrum mode. Simply because she is so excited to bake with mommy and cannot wait! This simple tip will help set you up for success and avoid a meltdown moment.
Be in the mood: Don’t get the wrong idea…baking with my 2 year old is not something I have the patience to do everyday or even weekly. It takes patience and my full attention. Plan this activity when you know you have the time to set up, clean up and are ready to teach your toddler. I promise it’s worth the pure joy and life skills your child will get out of it!
Make cleanup easy: Once the activity is over, chances are your toddler will be ready to run onto the next thing. That might be rubbing pink frosting on your white couch…so be ready. I like to keep baby wipes nearby. Then I can quickly wipe her down and she can be on her way while mommy cleans. There’s always going to be some ingredients on the floor…even when I bake alone. When my daughter drops some flour on the floor it eases my mind having the cordless vacuum handy so little feet don’t track it throughout the house. If I have the time I try to have the sink/dishwasher empty so I can quickly get things cleaned up. As us moms know that’s not always possible..again this is a time to give yourself some grace! A little screen time will not hurt so you can get yourself in order.
Take Short Cuts: Use pre-made cookie dough/cookies and frosting. Skip past the baking if you only have time for decorating.
Use lightweight utensils: Depending on your child’s age this will change. Right now my 2 year old struggles with heavier measuring cups. To avoid meltdowns and big spills I like to put ingredients into solo cups so she can easily dump them into the bowl.
Make it last: I spread out the ingredients so the activity lasts longer and she gets to do more. Separate flours, sugars, etc into more than one cup. Stop after every ingredient addition and let them stir and mix things.
Don’t worry about the recipe: Be ok with a little waste and spilling. When I first began baking with my daughter I would get nervous if she spilled ingredients outside of the bowl. My advice…don’t be baking with your toddler for a special occasion. Let them spill the milk or lose a little baking powder on the floor, otherwise it’ll just be stressful.
Make it more than one activity: My sugar cookie recipe is quite easy so I like to make it with my daughter. Usually we’ll make the dough a day ahead and that’s a quick activity. You can keep the dough in the fridge for 1 week or freeze it for 6 months. Another day we bake the cookies. This is her favorite, I let her have her own dough and just go to town, just like play-doh. I will usually cut out the cookies we’ll be saving for friends or family on my own and bake those while she does her thing. Later in the week we decorate with frosting, sprinkles and candy.
Be ok with the sugar high today: If you’re anything like me you worry about sugar overload with your kids. My rule is everything in moderation. When you bake with your kids they are going to want to sample everything. Let them do it, don’t take away part of the fun. Just make sure it’s a day you’re ok with it…maybe not the day after Halloween!
Start small: If baking/decorating cookies seems like too much, start small. Have your toddler help you throw together a smoothie by simply adding the ingredients to the blender. Let them throw cut up veggies in the crockpot for tonights dinner. Let them spread butter on their toast or drown their waffle in cinnamon by holding the spice container themselves.
Below is the kid cookie decorating activity. If you want to bake cookies or anything from scratch the helpful hints section above gives some guidance. Here is my sugar cookie and icing recipe if you’d like to try!
Cookie Decorating Activity:
Supplies:
- Sugar cookies, store bought or homemade
- Frosting, store bought or homemade
- Food coloring
- Sprinkles/M&M’s
- Small spatulas, spoons (easy for little ones to handle)
- Parchment paper
- Cookie sheets
- Learning stand or booster/highchair
- Childs apron (optional)
How To:
- Set up a learning stand at your kitchen counter or booster/highchair at your kitchen table. Feel free to lay down a tablecloth if you prefer.
- Separate frosting into light weight bowls. Make sure it is easy to spread, add some milk or water to thin out if needed. Drop food coloring into each bowl and mix until you get the desired color. I recommend 2-4 colors. Place small spatulas or spoons that are easier for your child to handle in each bowl. *If you want to decorate cookies you might be saving to serve, make your own frosting bowls. This way your toddler can mix colors and make a mess while you keep your cookies separate.
- Take 3 cookie sheets, place baked cookies on one, parchment and jar/bowl of sprinkles on another and candies such as M&M’s on the third.
- Place colored frosting next to the cookie sheet with cookies.
- Let your toddler know it’s time to decorate cookies, when you’re all set up. Put an apron on them if you wish or let them decorate in their underwear/diaper or clothes you don’t mind staining.
- Show them a few times how to frost the cookie then let them have at it. *If you’re saving cookies for an occasion and you don’t want them half eaten and sneezed on…don’t worry. Let your toddler decorate the same 3 cookies over and over. Just scrape the frosting off and add back to the bowl.
- When they’ve had enough frosting show them the sprinkle station. Move the frosted cookies onto the sheet with parchment paper. Show them how to sprinkle out of the jar or grab from the bowl and place on the cookies. My daughter likes to dump the entire jar out in one go. That’s why I put parchment underneath. Move the cookies off the sheet, fold the parchment like a hot dog bun and dump sprinkles back into the jar. Let them repeat this over and over.
- Move the sprinkled cookies onto the 3rd cookie sheet. Show them how to place candies onto the cookies. *Let them go back and forth in between stations, just scrape frosting, sprinkles and candy off each time.
- Taste test!
Notes: Check my helpful hints section for more details but here are a quick few.
- Keep baby wipes or washcloth nearby to quickly clean your toddler when they’re done.
- Keep vacuum nearby (I prefer my cordless shark) to clean up as you go or right after. This avoids little feet tracking flour and sprinkles everywhere.
