Christmas Cookies with My 3 Year Old

we like to do cut out cookies, which are easy if you get a betty crocker sugar cookie mix and follow the cut out cookie directions. My daughter has always loved to use the cookie cutters so it's pretty fun. and she loves to do the sprinkles.

just make whatever type of cookies and your son can help put the cookies on the baking sheet.

just make a basic sugar cookie recipe (or use pillsbury!) and let your little guy go wild with sprinkles and icing. that's the part they like best anyway!
have fun. i miss that stage.
:) khairete
S.

One more good one for young kids are the "Turtles". I made them last year with my 3 year old and he was super helpful at stacking the items and lining them up just right, he really surprised me. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper and stack square waffle pretzels with a rolo on top, soften in the oven and then a walnut is pressed on top while they are still warm.

Peanut butter blossoms (if there's no allergy) because in addition to measuring & dumping, rolling the balls in a bowl of sugar with a spoon is fun, unwrapping the hershey's kisses (one for the cookies, one for me, etc), and sticking the kisses into the warm cookies out of the oven (make sure hands have been washed and maybe little plastic gloves wouldn't hurt - heck, I tend to lick my fingers when chocolate is involved!)
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Jif-Peanut-Butter-Blossoms/D... (I'd substitute butter for Crisco, but that's just me...)

We do christmas cookies every year since my son was 2 with his older cousins. Which really helps! My son is now 6 and it gets better every year.

Just note at that age there attention span is still really small. So I do the main rolling of the dough and they do the cut outs. I give him the excess dough and a small rolling pin to roll out his dough and cut out his "own" cookies. I do bake them, but keep them seperate from the main cookies.

Put plastic down because you will have dough, frosting, sprinkles everywhere. It is fun to see how much frosting and sprinkles they put on the cookies! I would just plan on doing sugar cookies. Trust me it will be an afternoon adventure. As he gets older you can add on. The two older kids get to pick out the cookie they want to make and they pretty much do everything except the putting and taking things out of the oven.

If grandma, aunt, another mom friend or dad wants to partcipate I would highly encourage it. You will need an extra hand.

You have lots of great ideas here so I am just giving you a outlook that we don't think of as often. When my daughter was around your son's age she was playing in the flour at my mother in laws, making a huge mess. I said "Cassie don't be making messes like that!" My mother in law said "We aren't making messes, we are makng memories" So whatever kind of cookies you make and how big of a mess your son makes doing it, remember you aren't making cookies, you are making memories. :-)

Ya know... I know a lot of people with kids, that use the ready-made Pillsbury cookies (from the refrigerator section in grocery stores).... all you do is pop it out of the canister... and then put it in a baking sheet.
Real quick.
your son can then decorate it with sprinkles etc. '

My son likes to cook too... but he can't literally roll out the dough all perfect or evenly... but he can use cookie cutters and cut out shapes and decorate cookies.

all the best,
Susan

we found that my kids get bored with the rolling and cookie cutters. We do the Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix. They help with that, then we just make regular round shape cookies. When they are baked, the kids then decorate to their done with 4 colors of frosting, gel tubes, etc.

We usually do 2 dozen because they usually get tired after 4 a piece.

When I bake with my son I will measure out the ingredients and then let him put it in the mixing bowl. You have to help to make sure it all gets in. I sometimes will put a plastic placemat under the bowl and if he spills I can just bend the placemat and put the spilled ingredients in.

Here are some of our families favorite cookie recipes. Have fun making cookies.

Oatmeal cookies
http://www.quakeroats.com/cooking-and-recipes/content/rec...

Choc. chip cookies
http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/18476/Original-NEST...

Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies
http://insidebrucrewlife.blogspot.com/2009/10/its-all-abo...

Peanut Butter Cookies
http://www.food.com/recipe/old-fashioned-peanut-butter-co...