Bake Fall Leaf Cookies

What You Need:

• ½ c room temperature butter
• ½ c sugar
• 1 egg
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla
• Dash of salt
• 1 ½ c flour
• Mixing bowl
• Hand mixer
• Spatula
• Sketch paper and pencil
• Rolling pin
• Butter knife
• Sheet pan
• Powdered sugar
• Red and yellow food coloring
• Paintbrushes
• Water

What You Do:

1. Invite your child to measure and add the butter, sugar, vanilla, salt, and egg to the mixing bowl. She can use the spatula to break up the butter and then, with some adult supervision, use a hand mixer to whip everything together.
2. Now she can do a little math to figure out how to divide the amount of flour needed by thirds. Along with making tasty cookies, she’s learning math skills! Once she’s figured out the correct measurement, she can add a third of the flour and stir, then another third and stir, and finally the last of the flour.
3. Next your child can place the sugar cookie dough in the fridge for 20-minutes to set-up.
4. While she’s waiting, invite your child to sketch out leaves on a piece of sketch paper. She can take a look outside for fall leaf inspiration!
5. Invite your child to preheat the oven to 350 F. and lightly dust a clean work surface with flour. Now she can place half of the cookie dough on the work surface, dust with a bit more flour, and roll until about ¼ inch thick.
6. Offer your child a butter knife to cut leaf shapes from the sugar cookie dough and then place on the sheet pan.
7. Once she’s filled the pan with lots of leaf shapes, pop the cookies into the hot oven for about 12 minutes.
8. While the cookies are baking, she can mix up the colors for painting her cookies. Your child can place 2 Tbsp of powdered sugar into a small cup and then add a few drops of red food coloring. Now she can do the same with another 2 Tbsp of powdered sugar, another small cup, and a few drops of yellow food coloring. She can finish the paints with a couple of drops of water, using clean paintbrushes to mix.
9. Once the cookies have cooled, invite our child to use her edible paints to finish her fall leaf cookies. She can blend the edible paints while painting the cookies or paint them all one color.