Preschoolers make Christmas cookies with the ‘big kids’
Behind every high school student, there’s a kid at heart. Except, this time there’s a child sitting next to them anxiously waiting to get flour and frosting everywhere once the “big kids” say the word. Big Foot Recreation District Program Coordinator Brooke Friess teamed up with family and consumer education teacher Katie Ladsten at Big Foot High School to give the Parent-Tot class a different environment while making a mess in the kitchen with the high school Foods 1 students.
Leading up to the class, the high school students prepped the recipes and baked extra cookies ahead of time for the kids to frost.
On the day of the event, the preschoolers came to class anxiously as the high school students were a little nervous in the beginning.
“When can we get started? I want to make purple cookies,” said preschooler Avery Bullard after the kids, parents and high school students introduced themselves.
The preschoolers got to choose what cookie cutters they wanted to use and press them into the dough making Christmas shapes. After the cookies were put into the oven, then the real fun began.
The intergenerational team followed another recipe to make the frosting with mixing in the preschooler’s favorite colors. Once frosting and sprinkles were put on the table, the kids instantly had sprinkles everywhere.
Parents helped their children frost the cookies and some might have had a couple of bites while their children weren’t looking.
“It was great to see how well the high school students interacted with the preschoolers and gave them instruction,” Ladsten said.
Ladsten commented she had no idea what to expect from the students and was very happy with her class.
“It’s great for the children to work with the big kids; we should do it more often,” said parent Carly Blackman.
“This collaborative event was very successful and we will be planning more events with a variety of classes in the future,” Friess said.
Parent-Tot meets every Wednesday from 1-2 p.m. at Big Foot High School studio room where parents bring their child, ages 2-5, in their play clothes knowing there is always a mess to be made. That mess could include everything from crafts, gym time or “drive-in” movies with homemade cars.
Check out www.bigfootrecreation.org to see the weekly themes and special events starting back up in January after the holidays.
