My kids love baking but organising a successful bake with a few kids around is harder than it looks!

The problem is finding a recipe that allows for meaningful (and equal!) contributions by my 5 year old and 3 year old! Arguing over who put the last cup of flour in can leave me as confused as them – plus our own little 1 year old Baby Bear likes to be involved and it can be hard keeping her out of danger while allowing her to get her gorgeously grubby hands into something that makes her feel part of it!

Today I found the answer – jam drops! I made the batter while the kids watched Playschool (thanks again ABC!) and then set them up at a floury kitchen table where they could make small balls, put an indent in the middle and spoon in the jam.

They had their own separate dough, container of jam and spoon (different colour jam for each child to colour code their cookies!). Baby Bear was able to sit up restrained in her booster seat and make patterns in the flour with a spoon and play with her own piece of batter.

Everyone was happy and the kids had a real sense of ownership when the jam drops emerged from the oven.



Follow this link to a simple recipe for Jam Drops.

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