How to Make Cookies With Kids

What better way to spend time with the kids this weekend than making cookies! While it can quickly end up in mess, here are a few tips to make cookie baking time with kids more enjoyable - and less messy.

I recently made cookie dough following a local recipe. It's a perfect one for making cookies with kids. Why? Simple and quick! And everyone loves them.

My child, of course, joined in immediately for some cookie-cutting fun. The red apron on, up the stool, and cookie cutters in the hands. Just like playdough mixing activities, right?

But letting children help make cookies can get a little messy. If you want to have fun baking with kids, but avoid some of the mess, check out a few tips for making cookies with kids.

How To Make Cookies with Kids

Here are a few basic tips that helped me a lot:

Tip NO 1 for Less Mess: use plastic trays as a base!

By now, you'll most probably have noticed that we often use the Drälla bendable chopping boards - it's (like a lot of our stuff) from Ikea. It's one of the staple items we buy each time we visit this store. I'm mentioning this because this is an easy and inexpensive way to save you from cleaning the table (and floor) after a semi-messy kids' activity like playdough or cookie cutting. It might help you, too. (no affiliate link, just loving the product 🙂

These plastic cutting boards from Ikea are perfect not just for food, but also as trays for these playdough activities - we keep a few trays just for playdough in the playdough tray.

Tip No 2 - Use cookie cutters!

Cookie cutters are great when you don't want the kid's masterpieces to be too large, take up too much time, or end up as a giant ball. It's easier to set expectations for kids as to what to do with cookie dough too.

Tip No 4: Mix Cookie Dough In advance

If baking with toddlers, you can mix the cookie dough in advance.

Tip No 5: Have Everything Ready

Have everything ready before you tell your kids it's time to make cookies.

Last tip: easy recipes!

I love trying out new cookie recipes. But there are a few basic ones that are a fail-safe way to get tasty cookies, especially when you cannot focus on the ingredients as much as you would if there were no little helpers around. This is why it's good to stick to easy recipes, at least in your first few sessions of making cookies with kids.

Off they go into the oven...

It's cookie time! Late autumn is just perfect for baking at home with your toddler. It's too cold to play outside until evening, and the oven will add to the warmth of the place. And kids love working with cookie cutters!

That sweet buttery smell all over the apartment, then cookies slowly disappearing. One by one...

Want more easy ideas? Try these:

• our favorite yummy muffins
• super easy coconut cookies
• tehse trendy hot cocoa with marshmallows