How to Make Christmas Cookies With Your Toddler

Decorating Christmas cookies with your toddler - besides being great fun - is a good way to introduce math and science concepts. Scoop, pour and crack your way to a tasty holiday tradition.

Difficulty: Moderately challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Brushes
• Herbal Cookbooks
• Food Coloring
• Sugar Cookie Dough
• White Frostings
• Baking Utensils
• Cookie Sheets
• Cooling Racks
• Electric Mixers (with Bowl)
• Holiday Cookie Cutters
• Measuring Cups
• Measuring Scoops
• Measuring Spoons
• Cookie sheets
• Measuring cups

1. Have your ingredients and supplies ready. Keep dangerous or complicated ingredients and utensils out of your toddler's reach.

2. Start your toddler with a simple task. Tasks that require simple steps like scooping or mashing are best for first-time helpers. If your toddler has cooked with you before, you may want to experiment with pouring and cracking eggs.

3. Follow a simple recipe. Stick with simple cookies like sugar or peanut butter cookies.

4. Decorate prior to cooking. Cut out Christmas shapes. Add any candy you want on your cookie. To paint your design, mix three egg yolks together with the same amount of water, adding water for a thinner mixture. Divide mixture evenly into a muffin tin, tinting each spot a different color with food coloring. Give your toddler a paintbrush and decorate the cookies together. Follow the same cooking time.

5. Decorate after cooking. Buy or make frosting. Add food coloring to your homemade frosting or store-bought white frosting for color variation. Put the frosting into sealed plastic sandwich bags. Cut off the very tip of one corner of the bag. Show your toddler how to squeeze the frosting out and let the decorating begin! Add sprinkles or other small baking candies after you are done with the frosting.

Tips & Warnings

• Expect a mess. And have a plan.
• Let your toddler be the artist - encourage creativity.
• Make sure your toddler has a safe place to stand and work at the counter.
• Talk about the cooking process and what will happen next.
• Put your cookies in the freezer to cool them fast.
• Watch for hot surfaces, dish towels hanging off of counter tops and sharp objects. Little hands move fast.
• Make sure the cookies are cool enough to eat.
• If you are using eggs in the recipe, don't let your toddler eat the cookie dough until it is cooked.

Who Can Help:

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on 11/22/2005 After mixing up your favorite sugar cookie dough and chilling it, shape the dough into balls. Place colored sugars or other edible decorations in a shallow bowl and allow the toddler to dip the top of the cookie into the sugars. Place cookie on cookie sheet and press down with a glass (dipped in white sugar). This lessens the mess and the child still gets the enjoyment of decorating cookies without the frustration of trying to do a task (getting sprinkles on a small surface) that is beyond their skills.

on 11/22/2005 It's really not a good idea to have a toddler crack eggs. They are young and do not understand how dangerous raw eggs are. The fingers will get goop on them and will then go into the mouth. Not a good idea.