Baking cookies is a great activity to share with your little one.  It involves so many aspects of learning disguised as complete fun!  Literacy, mathematics, and fine motor skills are all exercised and enhanced as your child follows instructions, measures ingredients, and works with dough.  Creativity and imagination play a big role in this activity as well, so feel free to let your child experiment with a rolling pin, plastic cookie cutters, and their bare hands.  When the cookies are finally baked and cooled, provide various decorative items such as colored icing and sprinkles.  Visit your local branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia and browse the children's cookbook section for easy recipe ideas.

Of course, the kitchen can be a dangerous place, so be sure to share your basic rules for kitchen safety with children before you start, and remind them of these rules every time you cook or bake together.

To extend the fun, here are some ideas for cookie-themed books to share with your child.  Check them out during your next visit to your local library!

The Gingerbread Man Loose on the Fire Truck by Laura Murray

Señorita Gordita by Helen Ketteman

The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins

Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

The Gingerbread Boy by Paul Galdone

Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett

Mmm, Cookies!  By Robert Munsch

The Duckling Gets a Cookie by Mo Willems