Nothing can bring a family together like baking cookies. In the book Cookies, Bite Size Life Lessons by Amy Krouse Resenthal, children can learn life lessons about love, kindness, and sharing all centered around their favourite food…cookies! Enjoy the book with your child, then take a look at these book based activities designed to extend the learning even further.
These activities are a great way to enjoy the themes of the story long when the book is done, and can help keep kids learning and engaged in a way that is fun and meaningful. 
Cookies Bite Size Lessons Book Activities:
Activity #1: Cookie Baking Sensory Experience
In this activity, kids will experience the smells and feels associated with cooking baking in a hands on way. It engages the tactile and olfactory sensory systems.
Supplies needed:
- muffin tin or muffin cups
- assorted cookie toppings such as candies, cinnamon sprinkles, candy sprinkles, sugar, cloves, and other spices.
Directions:
- Start by reading the book with your child. As you look at the pictures, talk about how we can use illustrations to “smell” the pictures. What types of items do you see that make you think of baking scents? Some examples include dough, sugar, candy, etc.
- Take a look at the samples you have collected for children to smell. Take turns smelling each sample. Some of the samples can include candy toppings, cloves, cinnamon, and sugar.
- Use your adjectives to describe the scents. Do they smell sweet? Spicy? Tasty?
- Let children touch and smell each sample and use their adjectives to describe what they are experiencing.
Activity #2: Comprehensive Book Walk
In this activity, children will take a book walk through the text and use this opportunity to ask questions, discuss their favourite pages, and more.
Supplies needed:
- book
- Post-it notes
- pens/pencils
Directions:
- Give each child a stack of post it notes as well as a pen or marker.
- Go through the book page by page. When children find a page that they have a question about, have them write a “?” on the sticky note and stick it to the page.
- When they find a page that excites them or is their favourite, have them write a “!” and stick it on the page.
- When you are done walking through the book, take the time to go back and address the sticky notes. These conversations help them develop further comprehension of the text and can help guide the conversation.
Activity #3: Bake and Share
A big theme in the book is sharing with others. For this activity, you will plan, bake, and share your own batch of cookies.
Supplies needed:
- book
- ingredients to make cookies
- construction paper, markers
Directions:
- Talk about the themes of the book such as sharing, caring, and love. Talk about who you would like to share cookies with and why.
- Bake a batch of cookies. Use this opportunity to practice those measuring skills. Let kids help plan, bake, and clean up.
- Take the construction paper and markers and create homemade cards to go with your cookies. Deliver them to family or friends who may enjoy them.
- Afterwards, sit down and talk about how sharing and caring feels.
Enjoy this book with your child, then give these fun and educational book based activities a try!
You may also enjoy these book activity ideas:
These printable worksheet pages help students associate the emotion word with the corresponding facial expression using adorable little Christmas trees. They are perfect for using in your classroom or homeschool. They also work well to use with your child if they need extra printing practise at home.
If you want to make the sheets reusable, laminate the pages or slip them into a plastic page protector. Students can then use a dry erase marker to complete the tracing and writing.
Instructions for the student:
This is a great quiet activity for kids in amongst the hubbub of the holidays. Every year, I make several seasonal inspired sensory bottles for the kids like our 
Directions:
You can find the supplies to fill this at the Dollar Store, Hobby Lobby, or on Amazon. Of course as with any sensory activity, adult supervision should be used at all times even if the lid is secured in place.
Sensory and Learning Opportunities for Kids:
When children are able to name and express their emotions, they are better able to manage them. It’s kind of like the first line of defence when it comes to challenging behaviours.
Keeping a daily log allows kids to examine their emotions and it gives the opportunity for parents, teachers, or therapists to see if there are any obvious patterns emerging when looking back over the log. It’s a great tool!
Perhaps have them draw how they are feeling about other events in December such as Christmas, an upcoming concert or performance, visiting relatives, or grieving the loss of a relative, pet, or friend who will not be celebrating the holidays with them this year. This can be so helpful.
Sometimes the way we want to do things may not be what’s best for our child. That’s a hard realization to come to. When it first hit me that part of my parenting style was not what my child needed, it was hard to accept. Yes, it was hard because I felt guilty for not having met my child’s needs, but I’m going to be honest here and admit that that wasn’t the hardest part. The real hard part was that it meant that I was going to have to change. And change is hard.
Think of it like a triple layer sandwich. You need the bread (structure) on top, in the middle, and on the bottom. That’s what holds the sandwich together. But the beautiful thing about doing it this way is that you can fill the sandwich with whatever you want in between the layers.
