Make Time Together Creative Challenge: Family Cookie Decorating
This post is part of a month-long series to encourage families to Make Time Together through creative arts & crafts related family activities. To view all of the posts, simply click 'Make Time Together' tag on the left sidebar.
Did somebody say cookies? Yippeeee! Everyone likes a good cookie right? Well today we've got a true 'Cookie Queen' sharing an awesome way to include your kids in the cookie decorating process. Sally is a Mom of 3 lovely littles, and she loves nothing more than baking up delicious treats. Her outlook of "laughing through the good and bad" is certainly a wise way to deal with the chaos of parenthood! Be sure to check out her Instagram and blog for a fun insight into her Mama journey.
There is something about working in the kitchen that always grabs my kids’ interest, especially when cookies are involved! Before I know it, I have two extremely enthusiastic helpers following me around. It’s not always possible, but I rarely regret letting them join in the fun. They love the opportunity to be creative and to be a part of my world. And of course, they take their role as taste testers VERY seriously.
We used Valentine's Day as an excuse to get baking together, but you can enjoy this activity at any time of year! I thought these sweet hand-made cookies would be the perfect Valentines to share with their friends. This time, I baked the cookies ahead of time so we could make the most of their time and focus it on the decorating.
Here’s a list of materials we used:
- Sugar cookies (see recipe link below)
- Sprinkles (we love these little heart sprinkles, and these are cute too!)
- Piping bags (disposable or reusable)
- Treat bags
- Baker’s Twine or Red Ribbon
- Craft Paper for Tags
This sugar cookie recipe is a crowd favorite!! They are dense and buttery, but not too sweet, so you can really enjoy the vanilla sour cream frosting. CLICK HERE for my recipe.
Once the cookies were baked and cooled, we made a list of friends to share them with, and then counted out our cookies. This was a great way to work on counting with Penelope (2.5 yrs old) and to do some basic math with Gunner (5 yrs old).
We decided to tint the frosting a light pink, the perfect canvas for our array of Valentine themed sprinkles. When my kids are involved, I like to put the frosting in piping bags for them to squeeze onto the cookie. This helps keep the cookies intact, while giving them an opportunity to work on their motor skills.
I divide our different sprinkles into bowls so they can easily see what is available and grab as they please.
The real challenge with this project is keeping my kids from going overboard with both frosting and sprinkles. I gave them a few subtle reminders that these are for our friends and we want them to look nice and be delicious.
I’d place one cookie on their plate at a time and ask them to tell me about the friend they were decorating it for. It was sweet to hear them thinking about each friend as they decorated. I heard a lot of “he’s going to love these sprinkles.” And “She loves pink, so I’m going to do all pink.”
As each cookie filled up with frosting and sprinkles, I’d place it on a cookie sheet to set before we wrapped them up. This frosting can be a little sticky, so I usually refrigerate them so they don’t smudge as I put them in the bag.
The ribbons were a good chance for Gunner to practice his cutting and tying. The tags were great for working on his spelling. Penelope just appreciated another opportunity for be creative and scribble like crazy.
We especially love this project because it can work for any holiday or occasion. Change your frosting color and sprinkles, and you can decorate with any theme. As it turns out, people like receiving cookies all year round!
I hope you try this with your little ones! I’d love to see how they turn out and hear how you enjoyed it. Find me over at my blog or (my favorite) on Instagram.
We know what we'll be doing this weekend with our littles! Thanks so much Sally for the cute Make Time Together activity idea!
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Creative QT designs quality + innovative toys that declutter homes and inspire creative play. Founded by parents of five, Adam and Dana Sue Hinkle, Creative QT’s vision is to empower parents and encourage a culture of families that Make Time Together. All products are designed to enrich families’ lives through active, creative play and play based learning. Creative QT products are laboratory tested for compliance with CPSC requirements and are free of lead, cadmium and phthalates so you can play with confidence. So, go ahead … today is the day: be your kid’s hero.
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