Welcome to day five of the Creative Christmas Countdown – an online advent calendar bringing you a new activity each day from bloggers all over the world. Host by myself and Red Ted Art, you can always check the calendar to see the “doors” that have been opened or register to receive email updates.
Today we’re in the kitchen!
{Christmas Candy – Peppermint Creams}
You’re in for a treat today, literally. Also I am a dork who can’t resist puns….
Anyhow, go to Science Sparks for a cool explanation of how to make Christmas Candy AND the science behind it. I love the way Emma make science accessible and fun.
Holiday Fun Tip:
When it comes to cooking with kids, I try to hand over parts of the process that they can do on their own, but I don’t worry about giving them a hand in every little detail. Gradually they learn more skills and can take on more cooking jobs. In order to prevent squabbling I tell them the plan ahead of time – “Alright let’s take turns stirring. We’ll count to ten and then switch.”
Another very effective way to include kids in a recipe is to draw out what you’ll be doing – this does NOT need to be complicated. Just chicken scratch drawings of each step so your child can visualize where you are in the process. You can point and say things like, “Ok, we’re here and this is a mama job, but the NEXT step is a kid job.”
Joins the Christmas Countdown tomorrow on Red Ted Art! She’ll bring you another tip and the activity for day 6!
Do you like to cook with your kids? It seems like readers are split – some love it, some hate it. I love cooking with my kids and would like to write more about it, but what questions should I answer? What makes it difficult to cook with your little ones?
Great tip – and agreed, they don’t have to do ALL the cooking, doing bits of different steps and watching the rest is all about learning how to cook too!! 🙂
Thanks so much for the lovely write up. xx