The Great British Bake Off is back on TV and I am super excited for all the delicious Autumn bakes I can make with my toddler this year. Why not start introducing the key skills and vocabulary through play? You can start right now with my ten Great British Bake Off activities for toddlers.
Baking is a fantastic life skill to pass onto your kids. Even if you are a beginner, baking is something you and your toddler can enjoy together. Autumn is a great time for baking. It’s a warm, indoor activity perfect for any weather!
The delicious bakes feel comforting too and it’s a great way to use seasonal fruit and veg. A pumpkin pie is always on my Autumn baking list.
Your toddler needs to learn the basics first though and there’s no better way to teach them than through play! So here are my top ten Great British Bake Off activities for toddlers.
Number 1 Baking Treasure Basket
Number 1 on my list of the top ten Great British Bake Off activities for toddlers is a Baking Treasure Basket. Babies and toddlers love to explore. Everything is new and exciting! So why not introduce common baking utensils and vocabulary with a basket full of baking treasure?
You can see in
the photos, that I have included household items like cookie cutters, measuring
cups, silicone cupcake cases, a sealed pot of sprinkles, baking tins, oven
glove, spatulas and a whisk.
You can use anything you have on hand that is safe for a toddler to play with. Make sure you avoid anything too small that could pose a choking hazard.
Be aware that metal cookie cutters or decorative tins could have sharp edges. Stick with curved edges and materials like wood, silicone, fabric and paper.
Stay with your toddler and
enjoy exploring the activity together.
You might have noticed all the cute flashcards and labels I
have included in my treasure basket. Well you are in luck! I have made a FREE Time to Bake Activity Bundle which includes these great flashcards! Grab your
copy now and include them in your own treasure basket.
Number 2 Decorating Biscuits
Number two on my list of ten Great British Bake Off activities for toddlers is Biscuit Decorating. If you are looking for a super simple activity to enjoy with your toddler this is it.
Baking may seem daunting but it doesn’t have to be! Why not take a few shortcuts and make life easier for yourself while still giving your toddler an exciting baking experience?
This Biscuit Decorating activity is the perfect solution. Click the link to
find out what you need, grab my bright icing recipe and even get your hands on
my FREE Time to Bake Activity Bundle.
Number 3 Baking Rhyme Time
Next up on my list of the top ten Great British Bake Off activities for toddlers is Baking Rhyme Time. Did you know there are lots of great nursery rhymes with a baking theme?
Nursery rhymes are a brilliant way to introduce new vocabulary and boost your preschool child’s speech and language development.
I have written a list of my favourite baking themed nursery rhymes below. All you need is your own singing voice but you can include props and CDs too if you like.
Why not put those flashcards to good use and include them
alongside your musical instruments?
Don’t worry if you aren’t a confident
singer. Your little one with love hearing your sing and they will be fascinated
by your facial expressions too.
Just be enthusiastic and use lots of actions to
make your Baking Rhyme Time lots of fun!
Here are my favourite baking themed nursery rhymes:
Number 4 ‘Time to Bake’ Playdough Mats
Number 5 Threading
Threading is number five on my list of the top ten Great British Bake Off activities for toddlers. It's a popular activity in the early years because it helps develop fine motor skills in young children.
This means it strengthens all the small muscles needed for hand and finger movements. You can make it safe for babies from 6 months old by using a multi-grain hoop cereal such as Cheerios.
We tried it with string but found it was much easier using a pipe cleaner or a straw. Pop your cereal into a baking tray or make it part of snack time by threading fruit onto kebab sticks.
Number 6 Felt Pizza
Another activity in my FREE Time to Bake Activity Bundle is a felt pizza template. Felt is a great material for young children to explore as it sticks to itself. Making it easy to create pictures and patterns with the colourful fabric.
Grab the template for this pizza and it's toppings and you can introduce felt play to your child too.
All you need to do is cut out the paper template, attach it to your felt using a pin, then cut out the felt. And voila! You have a new toy all ready to teach your toddler about baking.
Number 7 Homemade Playdough
Did you know it is actually really easy to make playdough? We love sensory play and I have adapted this basic playdough recipe to make it even more exciting.
Are you ready to teach your toddler to sniff, whiff and smell their playdough creations? With this easy scented playdough recipe you can encourage your toddler to use all of their senses!
Just click the link to
find the recipe and grab your FREE Time to Bake Playdough Mats too.
Number 8 Time to Bake Flashcards
Next up on my list of Great British Bake Off activities for toddlers is Flashcards! If you're familiar with my freebies, you will already know how much I love a flashcard!
They are great for matching games, sorting, labelling, and search and rescue! The word cards I also include in the bundle will support your child's literacy skills too.
Young children can build up a 'sight vocabulary' by learning whole words like they do pictures. It's a great early reading skill and the pictures also support communication as you introduce new objects and ideas. You can grab my FREE Time to Bake Flashcards here.
Number 9 Tea Party Messy Play
The Great British Bake Off final often includes a garden party with the family and friends of the contestants. So of course I had to include a Tea Party Messy Play on my list of the top ten Great British Bake Off activities for toddlers.
I actually set this up in the Art Attack Angus studio so you can head over to their website to read the full blog post.
Essentially, I popped a tea set and some sensory rice on my tuff tray and included lots of exciting smells and textures using tea bags and scented playdough.
Why not see what you have around the house and create your very own Great British Tea Party? If it’s nice weather you could even turn it into a garden party! Remember to sing ‘I’m a little tea pot’ too!
Number 10 Baking Tuff
Tray
Finally, number ten on my list of the top ten Great British Bake Off Activities for toddlers is a Baking Tuff Tray.
My toddler loved exploring common store cupboard ingredients and kitchen utensils with this messy play activity. I included a baking bowl, flour, raisins, cinnamon, wooden spoons, cutters, toy pots and pans and more!
This is a brilliant way to introduce baking vocabulary. You can name the utensils and ingredients as your child’s explores the tray. It’s perfect for learning about baking skills too!
Measuring, whisking, stirring and pouring are all fun skills you can practice on the tuff tray! And if you fancy throwing in a bit of GBBO gingham, why not?
Are you ready to bake?
Which of my ten Great British Bake Off activities for toddlers will you try? I would love to know!
Tag me in your photos @craftytoddlercompany and remember to
join the Crafty Toddler Community group
for more exciting ideas and freebies!
If you liked this, you might also like:
- Nursery rhyme inspired activities for pre-school children
- Play soil and spaghetti worms for messy play
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