School holidays are here again, and if you’re anything like me, you’re probably looking for ways to keep the kids entertained without losing your mind! If you haven’t already read it, then check out one of my previous blog posts on Making School Holidays Magic Without The Mayhem.

One of my suggestions in that post was baking with your kids. Now, I know that baking with kids can sometimes feel daunting. Visions of flour storms, broken eggs with eggshells everywhere, and arguments over who gets to lick the spoon might spring to mind. But here’s the secret: it doesn’t have to be stressful! With the right mindset, baking can be a fun, memory-making activity that your kids will love, and you can actually enjoy too!

Baking with my kids is actually one of my favourite bonding activities with them! As some of you will know, I used to have my own cake business, so my boys are so used to seeing me in the kitchen, and of course they have grown to love baking with me. Suffice to say I have a lot of experience baking, so in today’s blog post, I’m going to share some of my tips for stress-free baking with kids.

Keep it simple

Forget about Instagram-worthy desserts. Choose recipes that are quick, forgiving, and fun. Think chocolate chip cookies, banana cakes, or brownies. And remember, you don’t have to make everything from scratch – you can use a box mix! Kids really only care about cracking eggs, adding things in, stirring the bowl, and – the most important part – eating their creations!

Prep ingredients beforehand

Depending on the age of your kids, their attention span isn’t going to be very long! Plus, you know they just want to get into the fun part – mixing, stirring, and tasting! To save time and to keep their interest and attention span, prep and measure all your ingredients beforehand!

Explain what you’re doing

This is where teaching and learning can take place! Explain what the ingredients are, what you’re doing with them and why (science), count out your cups/spoonfuls (maths), and if they’re old enough, you can even simplify your recipe to help them learn to read!

Hands on approach

Kids love having responsibility and being treated like they’re old enough/a grown up! So let them get their hands in it! They can help you crack the eggs, pour in the ingredients, stir the mixture, etc. Older kids can help read the recipe or be “chief decorator”. My favourite things to do when I was a child was mashing up the bananas (banana cupcakes) and beating the eggs. When kids are allowed ownership, there’s an extra pride and joy in what they’ve created, which only adds to the beautiful memories.

Embrace mess & imperfection

There will be flour covering everything, and there will be sticky hands. Let it go! They’re kids, so it’s going to be messy and it’s not going to be perfect. I’ll be honest, this is something I struggle with because of my OCD and perfectionism, but am very adamant about doing! I never want my kids to feel like I’m not enjoying the experience with them because I’m upset about mess. Or, worse still, that I don’t think what they’ve done is good enough if I redo or ”fix” something they’ve done.

Enjoy their creativity and learning

If you can embrace the mess & imperfection, they just might surprise you! I know I am constantly amazed by my son’s creativity when it comes to decorating cupcakes or cookies. And I get blown away at how much he learns from the experience, like remembering an entire recipe!

Take pictures/videos

I know we all want to be in the moment, but if you can, remember to take some pictures or videos of your experience! My son loves using the pictures for “Show & Tell”, plus they’re also great for you to look back on as they grow up!

With these tips, I hope you can have a fun and enjoyable time baking with your kids these school holidays! Remember, it’s not about perfection, it’s about connection and memory-making! So even if the cupcakes sink, or the cookies come out a little too brown, or if more sprinkles end up inside little mouths than on your baked goods, these will all beautiful things to laugh about and remember even years from now.

With that said, what will you and your family be baking next?