Baking with children: Baking tasks for children from 2 years

Baking with children is not only a lot of fun, it also promotes their development! But which baking tasks make sense for which age? Many parents ask themselves this question when they are standing in the kitchen with their children.

Baking with Children Promotes Their Development

Before we think about which baking tasks our children can take on, we should remind ourselves once again why we bake with our children: at first glance, the result—a pretty, delicious cake—seems to be the focus! But if we look more closely at the topic, we quickly realize that the “pretty, delicious cake” is merely a welcome side effect. It’s not about culinary perfection, but about much more!

When baking with children, it’s about spending time with our children, creating something together, and—almost incidentally—giving the little ones something for their path through life.

So it’s not primarily about a perfect result from the oven, but about a beautiful experience with and for the children—one that playfully and joyfully supports these little people in their cognitive and motor development.

When you bake with your children, you should keep exactly this in mind when assigning tasks. There is no room for perfection when baking with children—spilling is allowed and mistakes can be made! Your children are not meant to complete the individual steps alone and perfectly; instead, the focus is on learning something new together with you and having lots of fun in the process.

From What Age Can You Bake with Your Children?

Now that the “why” has been explained, you may still be asking yourself when you should start baking with your minis. First, some good news: there is no age restriction for baking with children!

For example, my children have been baking with me since birth. As you can probably imagine, at that time they weren’t cracking eggs into the batter, but were usually sleeping in a baby carrier attached to me 😉 At some point, a lively little girl was sitting in a baby bouncer next to me, watching my every movement closely while happily chewing on a wooden spoon.

Since my minis have been able to walk and could no longer be stopped from helping me bake, my parents built a learning tower for them. A kitchen aid that I wholeheartedly recommend to every family. (There are countless instructions for learning towers; I’ve linked one for you here.) It’s not only indispensable for baking with children, but for everyday family life with a child in general. It gives the child the opportunity to “be part of it,” and at the same time gives parents the security that the child can participate “safely” without needing to be held or supported.

With this little excursion into our family life, I simply want to make it clear that baking with children is possible from a very young age. How you define baking with children, when you feel ready for it, and which baking tasks you pass on to them is entirely up to you. Every child develops very individually, especially during the first three years. Observe your child, and you’ll notice which baking tasks they can already actively help you with.

Which Baking Tasks Can Children Already Take On as Toddlers?

As I just mentioned, I am convinced that you are the best judge of which baking tasks your child is already capable of. I’ve put together a list of baking tasks that can be handled well by toddlers (from around 2 years of age)—some with more, some with less support from you:

• choosing a cake
• greasing the baking mold with a brush
• fetching ingredients from the cupboard
• “measuring” ingredients in a cup
• mashing bananas
• cutting bananas with a blunt knife
• putting pre-measured ingredients into the bowl
• stirring batter with a spoon
• mixing batter with a mixer (with your stabilizing hand)
• kneading dough
• sprinkling streusel on the cake
• holding the baking mold while you pour in the batter
• spreading batter on the tray with a dough scraper
• distributing fruit on a sheet cake
• placing paper muffin liners in the muffin tin
• spreading cake with chocolate coating
• decorating cake with chocolate pearls/chocolate lentils
• licking out the mixing bowl
• cutting out cookies
• dusting cake with powdered sugar
• …and many more!

Which Baking Tasks Are Suitable for Kindergarten-Aged Children?

The older or more experienced you and your child become when baking together, the more independently your child can take on the baking tasks mentioned above.

Of course, there are also tasks for which a toddler lacks the necessary fine motor skills, and which you should approach slowly. At some point, however, your child will grow out of this stage and may even manage more than you think! This age is usually reached when the minis start kindergarten, at around 3–4 years old.

The list of baking tasks is now expanded to include more challenging tasks for kindergarten-aged children . If some tasks seem intimidating to you, remember that you are right there with your child and can support them at any time—and as mentioned at the beginning: it doesn’t have to be perfect. Mistakes are allowed—and should even happen!

Additional tasks that kindergarten children can take on:

• cracking eggs
• separating eggs with a plastic bottle
• filling batter into the baking mold
• portioning batter into muffin liners with an ice cream scoop or spoon
• cutting fruit into small pieces with a knife
• rolling out cookie dough with a rolling pin
• …and many more!

You’ll see—your child, and you as well, will grow with your tasks! 🙂

And at some point, you’ll switch roles: then you’ll be the “little helper,” handing ingredients to your child while baking and being happy that you get to help 🙂

I wish you an incredible amount of fun baking together!

Yours, Lia

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