I love this post by Abbie from Organizing Life. Sometimes I forget that it is actually pretty easy (though admittedly not as easy as whipping something up myself!) to include Sam in the cooking. It takes a little longer and I can't just be on auto-pilot as I often am when I cook. But he loves it and I can just see the wheels turning in his head as he's learning and soaking so much in. And so often it turns a grumpy, pre-dinner toddler back into a cheerful, sweet one which is so worth the extra time.
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I
love to bake. I made my first batch of cookies with my mother when I
was three years old. Though I believe the bottoms were a bit burned,
that experience spurred a life-long interest in baking. I remember
poking my nose and my fingers into my mother's batters, doughs, and
frostings. I remember the wonderful smells of homemade bread filled our
home and the anticipation of the first bite was almost more than a kid
could stand. Now as a mother, I feel it is my responsibility to share the same wonders of the kitchen with my children.
Baking
with toddlers isn't easy. I spend 30 minutes organizing ingredients and
then need to mop the floor after only a 15 minute cookie-making
session. Nevertheless, baking projects offer fantastic teaching
opportunities and a wonderful chance to share an experience with your
child. Here are a few rules of thumb I use to make the process enjoyable, productive, and memorable.
:: Place all perfectionist expectations in the cookie jar
Though baking is about exact proportions, toddlers don't mind a
dense biscuit cookie because the baking powder that was going to make
the cookies fluffy ended up on the counter. The best toddler baking
recipe also calls for a bit of wiggle-room because some of the batter
is probably going to land on the floor, many of the chocolate chips may
become taste-tests, and those sugar cookies likely will not resemble
any cookie cutter you own after being poked by toddlers.
:: Take a leap of faith
Little ones are notorious "do it myself-ers." So let them be just
that. If half the egg lands on the floor, well, that is the way the
cookie crumbles. Congratulate them for getting that slippery, hard
little oval thing open at just the right altitude above that bowl. (We
crack eggs into an extra bowl, pick out the shells, and add another
half an egg if necessary before dumping the contents into the dough
bowl.)
:: Dumping, dimpling, and decorating
Toddlers love a recipe that requires plenty of ingredient dumping, dough dimpling, and decorating with special edibles.
:: Baking is a great teaching opportunity
When selecting the best project read through the recipe instructions. Are there preparations that are simple, like counting eggs? What colors can your toddler point out? Does this dish offer tactile exploration? And are there skills needed that are more advanced like pouring and kneading?
:: Mise en Place
Have the table organized before inviting your little chef into the kitchen. (If your chef is old enough to help, of course invite them to do so.) For my toddlers I set out ingredients, measuring spoons and cups, and other utensils. I zest citrus, proof yeast, measure spices into pinch cups, and place cut butter cubes on a plate (and put the butter in the fridge or freezer if it needs to be cold) all before it is time to rock and roll.
:: Celebrate fabulous culinary creativity
Don't forget to celebrate and savor your finished creation! And of course, congratulate your toddler on a job very well done.
:: :: ::
Baking with toddlers is certainly an exercise in letting-go, accepting imperfection, and supreme patience. Spending time in the kitchen creating with your child is a wonderfully sweet way to give them a skill and experience they will carry with them always.
NOTE: The cake above is a raw carrot cake with pecan frosting. So admittedly there is no baking involved. My children only participated in the first half of this recipe and left plenty to clean up, but the results were delicious. For the recipe visit two blue lemons. and a thank you to childhood magic for a first look.
