Normally I only post preschool activities that I would give a solid “A” on a traditional grading scale. Making applesauce and cinnamon ornaments, sad to say, is not one of those activities. It might be right for someone…Just not us.
I think the problem is that the return on investment was so low. Applesauce and cinnamon ornaments are a lot of work! Rather than enjoying quality time with my son while making beautiful stocking stuffers, I ended up spending the whole time trying to keep his cinnamon encrusted fingers from decorating everything else in the room.
On the plus side though, my son had the opportunity to practice some valuable skills, so I would consider this a good preschool cooking activity for parents who have the time and inclination.
Preschool Cooking Skills:
- How to stir
- How to use a rolling pin
- How to push the cookie cutters straight down so that you get a clean cut
- How to arrange the cookie cutters to get the most out of the dough
- How to carefully move the cookies to the drying racks
If you do decide to tackle this activity, I found fantastic instructions for making applesauce and cinnamon ornaments. But, before you attempt it with a preschooler, learn from my mistakes:
- Prepare everything beforehand. Walk through the entire activity in your head and get all of the supplies together.
- Cover the table, your kid, the floor, and yourself with materials you don’t care too much about. (I covered the table with a cheap vinyl tablecloth which worked great.)
- Don’t count on being able to make any ornaments yourself.
- You might want to do the mixing yourself. Cinnamon has a tendency to explode into clouds of brown smoke when a preschooler does it.