How to Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies with Kids
By Stacy KravtizÂ
Cooking with your children can be a great experience. It gives them a chance to learn teamwork and patience as well as a host of other skills that come with reading and following the steps of a recipe. Kids are never as prepared as you think they are so be sure to supervise closely, remind them how to be safe with sharp and hot objects and use common sense.
1. Getting Ready
Wash hands. Tie-back long hair. Remove sharp object from the preparation area. Be sure to have a first-aid kit nearby. Make sure that everyone knows how to safely avoid the hot-surface areas. Consider using your neighbor’s kitchen. Are you sure you want to bake cookies because you could just pass the kids that bag of Chips-Ahoy in the pantry and call it a day.
2. Preparing The Ingredients
Prepare ahead of time! Make sure you have double the ingredients needed because without fail eggs will get broken outside of the bowl, sugar will be licked off of fingers and the chocolate chips will become a snack and you will both wear some flour by the end of this edible and “educational” activity.
3. Be Supportive. Be Flexible.
Encourage your child to read the recipe beforehand and gather all the needed measuring cups and spoons. Also know that a teaspoon of salt will most likely become a full TABLESPOON of salt. Or three. And baking soda? Baking powder? Whaaa?? Consider using egg beaters to avoid the inevitable chocolate-chip-with-broken-egg-shell-cookies and you won’t have to worry about the raw-egg salmonella risk while you re-live your own childhood by eating your weight in cookie dough. To survive this activity with a smile on your face eat your helping of dough with a glass of Cabernet.
4. Focus on the Positives
Praise your children for their hard work and focus. Following a recipe is a great learning experience, it requires focus, counting, planning and often it teaches the basics of a real stomachache. Have Pepto-Bismol on hand and consider taking it before this activity commences.
5. Eat. Or Don’t.
Sit down with a glass of milk and taste those delicious but odd-cookie-like things. Or don’t. Because food made by kids? EAT AT YOUR OWN RISK. Tell the kids they can eat their cookies after they clean up the kitchen.
