Educational Shape-Sorting Activity

Teach Mr. Cookie-Sorting Monster to identify shapes with freshly baked snacks!

Submitted by
Sonam Adinolf

Next time you're inspired to bake a batch of homemade cookies, use a whole bunch of different cookie cutters to make distinct shapes for this educational activity for kids. Then, encourage your kid to sort them before she shoves them down her throat. While this activity might be bad for your kid's teeth, it's good for her sorting, shape recognition and counting skills!

Pastry chefs:
You and your kid.
Cookie batter:
Make your own from scratch or just use a pre-packaged dough.(We won't tell the PTA that your famous bake sale cookies are really from the Doughboy!)
Cookie cutters:
Two different shapes for toddlers, more for older kids.
Cookie sorter:
Your kid.
Cookie sheet, butter, oven, etc.:
Everything you need to make a sinful batch of sugar cookies!

Bust out your aprons and hunker down for a Leave It to Beaver afternoon!
Have your kid help you either make some dough or break out the tube and roll it out on a floured surface.
Help her to cut the cookies with the different cookie cutters. Cut an even amount of each shape, then toss them in the oven.
While they're baking, pull out the two cookie cutters and show them to your kid. If she doesn't know them, teach her the names of the shapes. Give her a little trivia. Tell her where the shapes exist in nature (for example, stars are in the sky) and explain some fact about the shape, like how many pointed edges they have or where the curved parts are.
When the cookies are done, pull them out of the oven and let them cool.
Then pour your kid a big glass of milk, put the cookies on a plate and pull up a couple of chairs.
Challenge her to sort the cookies according to their shapes. Have her pile all the heart-shaped cookies on one plate and the star-shaped ones on another.
Then let her dig in and have one of each. Ask her if she notices that while they might look different, the cookies taste exactly the same. The educational values of this activity are practically endless—and so are the cavities, so limit her binge to two or three cookies ... and yours, too!