Three Year Old Thursday - Cooking and baking

Icing and decorating cookies or cupcake is such an easy little activity and it yields some yummy bits and pieces after the fact. I really like the 'Mrs Rogers Sprinkles' style range of decorations as there's some variety in what you get.

My girl loves baking. If she so much as hears a slight sound in the kitchen she rushes in from whatever she's doing and asks, 'Are you making mumma? I can help you'. Mostly helping just comes in the form of her sitting on her chair or the bench and chatting to us about what we're doing, but give her half a chance and she's getting amongst the action too. She loves mixing and whisking and she digs trying new things out.

I grew up helping my mum out in the kitchen and I know that that's where my love of cooking and baking came from. Leah loves helping out in the kitchen so naturally that I have to foster it. I'm hoping that in a few years I'll be able to kick back with a good book while she makes us dinner every night!

A month or so ago I came across this little gem on Pinterest. Little Miss 3 is working her way through mastering the 2-5 list and even likes to do some of the things in the 'Young Cook'.

When I came across the list Leah was already doing many of the things on the 'Preschool' section but I just hadn't thought about letting her do any cutting. I then came across this cute little set on Amazon and am having to keep myself from buying anything else made by the same label.

We've cut up lots of things with them so far - potatoes, apples, cheese, butter - they're great! When they arrived I wondered how something that didn't seem very sharp could cut things very well - but they're awesome.

So I implore you - let your little ones into the kitchen. It's not as scary as you might think and there's so much learning going on when you're chugging away at the bench - think maths and measurement, vocabulary building (steam, heat, chill, hotter, colder, mix, whisk...the list goes on) and of course the all important learning of how to make you dinner in a few years time!