I will start by saying-spoiler alert-I am the furthest thing from a professional baker! I do love this activity to do with littles no matter their age, as there are so many benefits from a sensory standpoint and motorically, but most importantly it is a great activity to connect with the ones that you love.
This activity calls for simple sugar cookies (premade mix is just fine!), cookie cutters, flour, and a cooling rack if you have one, cookie decorating supplies (icing, frosting, sprinkles, etc.), and a rolling pin-I misplaced my rolling pin, and ended up using a baby bottle ;), but if you had a wine bottle or another type of glass bottle those also work great for rolling dough.
My daughter is 14 months old, and was able to participate in prepping the counter with flour, rolling the dough, using the cookie cutters, decorating with sprinkles/icing and frosting, and was an excellent cookie taste-tester! As your child grows and you continue to bake with them, you will be able to see they can complete more of the activity with greater independence, such as reading and following the directions with you, measuring, preheating the oven, etc.
What does baking with my child encourage?
Confidence-by learning a new skill-measuring, mixing, touching a new texture, or simply participating in something new with you is sure to build their confidence!
Bilateral coordination-Working with the hands to use a rolling pin, squish and form dough, mix in the ingredients while holding the bowl, and using cookie cutters with both hands to press into the dough and lift and place their cookie onto the tray all require the use of both hands.
Cognitive skills-Following directions, building patience while we wait for the cookies to bake, problem solving when steps go wrong (or you burn your first batch like we did-ha!), and also encouraging creativity and expression as they decorate their own cookie.
Strength and dexterity-decorating is hard work! Practicing kneeding the dough between their fingertips, squeezing the icing onto cookies, sprinkling or scooping sprinkles onto cookies, spreading out icing/frosting using a knife all encourage strength in our hands and fingers.
Unique sensory experiences-As your child interacts with the tools, baking materials/ingredients, they are tapping into several different sensory processing areas to gain more understanding of their world. During baking they will explore lots of textures & temperatures (tactile), smells (olfactory), sights (visual), and even sounds (auditory) as they bite into their cookies. Baking is a complete multisensory experience to share with your child!
Bonding with your child-creating something together is bound to be a memorable experience!
*Tips when baking with a young child:
Be prepared for your child to interact with the activity for a few minutes, then come back with brief breaks in between.
You will most certainly get messy (proof below) so knowing that going into the activity helps for planning
You will likely need to do lots or at least some "hand over hand" or guiding if it is your child's first time using cookie cutters, spreading using a knife, or using cookie decor, and this is okay! I like to model something for my child first, then help guide them and finally let them try on their own.
If your child does not enjoy getting messy or struggles with having sticky hands/fingers, try completing one or two steps before needing to wash their hands or wipe with a washcloth and return to the activity.
No cookie baking is complete without a flour fight ;)
