The Perfect Incentive

Note: I invited Megan to guest blog this week while I was in Fiji.

Shelli gave each of the Gardner girls a Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamp set, and I knew exactly what I was going to do with it. I’m homeschooling Olivia (our nine-year-old) this year, and while it’s been a good experience so far, it’s been an adjustment for both of us as well. It’s amazing how long she can drag out a pretty simple assignment!

So when I saw the cookie kit, I knew spending some time in the kitchen with Mom making cookies was a perfect incentive. And I was right. When Olivia knew that stamping cookies was the reward for getting the rest of her schoolwork done, she got right down to work.

We used the shortbread recipe, and had lots of fun making the dough. Olivia’s been wanting cooking lessons too, and we got to apply some math principles (measuring ingredients) in an everyday experience (always good for a teaching moment).

We even got to throw in a little science, because you have to experiment with the amount of pressure you use so you get the cookies just right and not lopsided. 

Of course, having a tasty treat at the end of the project was a bonus!

Afterwards, Olivia took a plate of tasty cookies over to her friend, so it was fun for her to share what she’d done during the day.

We had our first snow that day (in October, believe it or not!), so we had fun with the snowflake stamp, coming up with the “We [heart] snow in October” cookies!

And we’ll definitely be making more cookies soon! Zach is an aspiring chef (he wants to be a food network celebrity someday), and when he saw what we’d been doing, he felt left out, so I had to promise him a turn with the cookie press too!

Comments

[Theresa Grdina]

NOW I GET IT! I have had such difficulty imagining the cookie press stamp! NOW I GET IT! Cute idea and fabulous incentive!!!! :)

[Maxine Conrad]

Great post Megan :) Looks like you and Olivia had a fabulous time making cookies.

[dona]

Good for you, Mom! Pulling math and science into cooking. Great teaching opportunity. Many years ago I taught "Bachelor Arts" to high school boys during summer school. I hope the kids had as much fun as I did!

[Gisele]

I wasn't going to order the Cookie Press, but now I need to! My 9 year old would be thrilled! Thanks for sharing.

[Wendie Waldman]

Love the cookies, love Olivia's apron, and especially her smile! A great home-school lesson.

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