Do a Little, Do a Lot

Every year one day during the Christmas season is designated as 'Cookie Day' on the family calendar so that I can make all the cookies, candies, and other treats that we eat, share, and gift during this holiday season.  When the kids were babies, my wonderful husband would plan a date day for them so that they could do something special and I could work uninterrupted by bottles, diapers, and Cheerio snacks.

Now that the kids are bigger, however, (5 and 3 - the time REALLY flies!) the kids stay here and help out.  They both love to help in the kitchen, and there are lots of jobs that even little kids can do to learn how it works and to lend a helping hand.

My little princess decided that she needed to dress the part.

She started out by rolling the peanut butter cookies into balls and getting them ready to bake.

After that she got the Hershey's kisses ready to turn the cookies into blossoms.  My little worker man decided that he needed to be involved in any candy being handled.

Later today, we'll paint the sugar cookies and package them for delivery.  Obviously I don't have pictures of that since we haven't done it yet this year, but we like to make these cookies and do so often, so here's what it looked like last year ... painting away with Grandma ....

The kitchen can be a dangerous place for little ones with the many sharp utensils and hot areas, but it can also be a place of great exploration and experimentation.  Cooking is as much an art as a science, right? Kids CAN be in the kitchen as long as they are well supervised.  Some great beginning jobs for kids in the kitchen are : 

• watching though the oven door for baking progress
• washing fruits and veggies
• crushing crackers and candy
• decorating cookies and cakes
• using a spoon to combine dry ingredients
• rolling out or shaping doughs 
• topping pizzas

If you haven't had your little one in the kitchen with you yet, try it!  It's great fun!