The kids have been asking to have a cookie party for a while now and I've somehow managed to put them off until we had a day to really do it up big. Instead of just a cookie party, we devoted an entire day to cookies. We had cookies for snacks, the kids played cookie shop with play dough, they colored cookie cut outs, and read cookie books. Despite the fact that we had to spend the day inside due to an incredibly muddy backyard, Cookie Day was a success.
We've been doing our theme days like this (Pizza Parlor Day, Cupcake Day, etc.) out on the patio. All of the rain recently made the backyard too muddy for outside play, so we brought the action into the kitchen. It was a little cramped and the kids didn't play with the dough for all periods of time as they have been on the patio, but they did play with it on and off through out the day.
Overall the kids had a great time playing Cookie Shop (the younger kids more than the older kids for once) and loved it. The only truly negative thing about playing Cookie Shop indoors: there was glitter EVERYWHERE! It's still embedded in my carpet after two rounds of vacuuming.
The cookie "toppings" that made a huge mess.
The dough.
I moved the little tables that the kids eat at and put a black cube unit for extra work space and to put the cookie sheets. The kids wound up using the cubes as their oven.
"A mixa, mixa, mixa" sang Harrison as he stirred his cookie concoction.
Each of the kids did something different with their dough, but I required them to share the cookie sheets (I only had 3 clean). They did a fairly good job of sharing the sheets, but needed some reminders along the way to share.
The cookies baking.
Working hard on their cookies.
The kids were free to "play cookie dough" (as they called it) and play with the other toys, the only rule was that they always had to wash their hands as soon as they were done with the dough. They listened very well to this and washing their hands every time, as evident by my bathroom filled with glitter. Despite cleaning and scrubbing, almost 24 hours later and I'm still finding glitter all over the bathroom and in the carpet.
I drew cookies, the older kids cut them out, and then all of the kids colored their cookies.
A snack of cookies and cookie stories while they ate. A lot of the kids had never read the book "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" and had me read it several times throughout the day.
To wrap up cookie day: lots of fun, glitter is messy and gets everywhere, the dough is definitely an outdoor activity.....yet I can see myself doing this on a long winter day (minus the glitter).