Sticky fingers and happy faces. This is what I loved about baking days when I ran my play school. One of my all time favorite things to do on baking Wednesdays was to have fun making, baking and creating with gingerbread. It was always a success, always creative and always had every child wanting more – they could never get enough!
Children love baking and so do I. Baking with children is just so rewarding, and Wednesdays were the best days as we were all excited about what we were going to make. Happy and inquisitive children are ready to soak up everything they learn, so it is an easy and fun way to spend time together, where all sorts of skills are gained and everyone benefits! It is a very sensory experience, and they especially will enjoy smelling the spices, tasting the mixture and feeling the lovely, soft dough. Seeing the whole process unfold from mixing and stirring the ingredients together through to admiring and eating the final product, which they have made, inspires them and builds all important confidence, as they realize what they can do.
We made lion cupcakes, hedgehog peanut butter cookies and chocolate cluster dinosaur nests filled with colorful edible eggs. We also made chocolate filled choc chip cookies and oh so good cinnamon spiced carrot cake muffins. On the savory side we made human face bread rolls complete with poppy seed hair and raisin eyes, corn muffins, cheese pies and of course who wouldn’t love making yummy pizzas with tasty toppings. The parents always loved it when we made pizzas, as that meant lunch was sorted on those days!
My go to recipe when making cookies was always gingerbread. It is so versatile and the dough is easy for little people to mix together, it is soft and easy to roll out like real play dough, and they enjoy cutting out all sorts of different shapes and of course, decorating it afterwards with icing and all the toppings. Tasting is also most important here, as both the dough and the finished product are simply delicious. We made everything from easy animal gingerbread cookies with chocolate chip eyes to stained glass gingerbread window cookies and stacked star Christmas trees dripping with icing and shiny sprinkles. We also made pirate treasure boxes filled with edible goodies, gorgeous sweet covered gingerbread houses, and so much more.
Baking with gingerbread leaves plenty of room for creativity, which is such an important talent to build in children. Remember, whatever they bake and however they choose to decorate it, it will always look gorgeous, especially when sprinkled with edible glitter and admired by you. Creativity is a life skill so worth nurturing in young children, and older ones too, and baking with gingerbread is the perfect way to have lots of fun while learning and being creative. Of course, everyone enjoys the final product, which is always absolutely delicious!
If you can’t wait to start baking, have a look at the FREE Baking Memories with Gingerbread mini kit and start having some fun with gingerbread. The full Baking Memories with Gingerbread module on the fun2do2day website is available too for when you want to experiment further! It doesn’t require previous baking skills, and is for those who need a little inspiration to get started with having an interactive, fun time with their children being creative with versatile gingerbread!