Today, Freddy had a fabulous time when he was set loose in the kitchen with 16 plain homemade sponge cakes (that we made together), three tubs of icing, sprinkles and some broken-up leftover Easter chocolate. He had a totally multi-sensory experience as he sniffed, licked, tasted, touched, mixed and spread icing liberally! He thought about the smells of the strawberry, chocolate and vanilla; the feel of the icing and the sprinkles between his fingers; the texture of the icing as he spread it and touched it; the shapes of the different sprinkles but mostly the flavours as he chomped on the chocolate and the Hundreds and Thousands! He made a complete mess but loved every moment of his time. He even enjoyed washing-up afterwards splashing in the warm, bubbly water and using different shaped vessels to pour water from one bowl to another. There is so much for him to learn through playing and exploring his environment independently.
If you plan on embarking on some similarly messy play, I recommend using a tray to catch all the dropped sprinkles and smears of icing. It was much easier tidying up afterwards with the mess contained. The apron kept Freddy clean (ish!) I often find it hard not to intervene and take control of activities that I do with Freddy and so it was really nice to take a back seat and simply let him do his thing. I watched, listened and took photos of his antics and let him explore, completely unhindered by any grown-ups with our pre-conceived ideas on what constitutes fun!
What a lovely way to spend a day!
Thanks to Nick Jr for the chef's hat and silicon cupcake cases that they sent us so Freddy could be one of Dora's Little Cooks! Take a look at this recipe from Dora to bake up some delicious treats that are easy for little ones to help with. You can find lots of other activities to keep the kids entertained this Easter holiday with Nick Jr online.