A Tradition of Holiday Baking
Tradition shared by Kristina of Toddler Approved
My husband and I both love to bake together and with our kids. Baking is such a great way to connect with one another, teach simple skills, and have fun as a family. Growing up my mom spent most of December making a lot of different types of cookies that we’d assemble on plates and deliver to fifty or more of our family friends and neighbors. I loved spending time with my mom and sisters while we baked.
Now that we have our own little family, my husband and I continue to look for ways to preserve this tradition of holiday baking.
Today I thought I’d share three different ways that we have embedded our tradition of baking into our family holiday activities.
1. Hosting a holiday cookie exchange
Each year I invite 30+ of my closest girlfriends over for a cookie exchange. This is our third year hosting. Everyone brings 3 dozen cookies and goes home with about as many. Each member of our family is involved somehow. My daughter helps with the baking and my son and husband are two of the judges on the night of the big event.
I love to make my favorite peppermint brownie recipe each year for the exchange.
2. Doing Simple Holiday Service
Each year we try and find new ways to serve others in simple ways at Christmas. This year we made some cards and baked some candy cane cookies. We took them to neighbors and also left some holiday goodies in our mailbox for our mailman. Serving together as a family during the holidays really helps us focus on the true meaning of the season and helps us teach our children the joy that comes from giving to others.
3. Hosting a Caroling Party
Do you have a favorite treat you make during the holidays?
Are there other ways that you embed baking into your family traditions?
Kristina is the author of Toddler Approved, a blog where she helps parents capitalize on teachable moments in everyday life and motivates them to discover, create, and learn with their children. She is a mom of three and is a former Special Education teacher. When she’s not crafting, Kristina is reading along with her Virtual Book Club for Kids, volunteering in her son’s preschool, running, and traveling with her family. Kristina tweets as @ToddlerApproved and can be found on Facebook and Pinterest
Even though my sister and I are both grown, my mom still makes holiday baking a big part of our family traditions. Each year we plan a day to get together and bake all day. Sine we live 2-3 hrs apart, it takes some work but it always so much fun. We each plan ingredients for 2 or 3 special treats, double all the recipes and split them 3 ways. Its extra fun now that my 3 year old can help! And when he’s tired in the kitchen, he gets special time with Grandpa and Dad.
That is so special Krista! Some of my favorite chats with my mom and sisters are when we were baking. I love the way you divide things up. and that you include your 3 yr old
We just had a weekend of cookie baking. Tonight, my 2 year-old will load up the plates of cookies in the wagon and deliver them with Daddy to all the neighbors. He is most excited about taking a bell I had from my classroom days and ringing it on the delivery route. I would say my all time favorite holiday cookie is a sugar cookie with yummy buttercream frosting!
What an adorable tradition Jodie! Love that he rings the bell.
Yum, Yum and Yum!!!
What a great tradition! And all of those photos are so beautiful! (And really really yummy looking)