Hello,

Any ideas on a good way to keep my two year old engaged while I am baking/decorating?

I work full time and in my spare (and I use that term loosely I love baking and cake decorating. He loves to help and I love involving him, especially since we are apart all day while I am at work.

Sometimes I give him a decorating bag with a tiny little hole in and a bit of frosting. He sits and squeezes it out onto the counter and then of course quickly eats it. I have tried giving him gumpaste or fondant to play with, but he just wants to eat it. I let him help me sift powdered sugar once - ekk!

So, just wondering if other mommies or daddies out there have fun ideas of involving your kids with your cake decorating.

Take care.

My daughter wants to "stir the cake" and "eat, me eat" while I am working on a cake. I have started giving her the cake scraps and tell her to decorate it like mommy. I give her some buttercream and jimmies and that usually keeps her good for a while.

It depends on the day but if I know I have lots of things to complete and no time left I will save her T.V time for when I really need to get things done.

My toddler is a little girl, and she loves to do anything that I do. So she has a small kitchen in an out of the way corner of our kitchen that she plays with at the same time.

Since yours is a boy, don't know how well that idea will go over. But before she had her kitchen, i just gave her bowls and little odds and ends that i didnt need to pretend that she was helping.

My toddler is a little girl, and she loves to do anything that I do. So she has a small kitchen in an out of the way corner of our kitchen that she plays with at the same time.

Since yours is a boy, don't know how well that idea will go over. But before she had her kitchen, i just gave her bowls and little odds and ends that i didnt need to pretend that she was helping.

Hey, I'm all for boys playing with whatever makes them happy (and safe). But I DO know that some people (mostly those pesky men, lol) are a little sensitive about boys playing with items that are typically considered girl toys.

I think it's perfectly fine for boys to play with kitchens, and I think i've seen some that were made pretty gender neutral.

Most of the time I get the majority of my work done at night after everyone is in bed.
I have 2 boys that are 18 months apart (ages 5 and 6 now) and a 2 year old girl. They all play with their "pretend" kitchen which turns into playing "restaurant." If they get bored with the kitchen, my 2 year old likes to play with Mr. Potato Head or blocks while I work. My 5 year old likes to draw pictures of the cake I'm making or ideas for future cakes. My 6 year old is all wrapped up with his Nintendo DS these days. The boys also enjoy "making" and decorating cakes with their playdoh. All 3 like to color and put stickers on a big piece of butcher paper that I roll out in the floor for them. Sometimes, all 3 get put in front of the TV to watch a Disney movie. If I'm really on a tight deadline, it's off to grandma's house!

well i have a 2 yr and 4 yr olds both boys i ussaually wiat till nap or bed time or daddy has a day off but my boy s will help mix taste test and sometimes with the extra i make a little cake for them to deco with icing they make and mix colors they have to learn so if its fun let him join in but if really busy or for someone speciall ask someone to watch him while you deco baking not that big of a deal if they around but im a newbie so i bake for fun and family i hope this helps boys love to help mommies too i hope ya'll have fun

I give my 2 year old fondant scraps and a smoother. She will SMOOTH those scraps She likes to roll them into snakes, too. Of course, the fondant does wind up getting eaten, but she plays with it for a good long time first. (Actually, I recently helped my SIL do a graduation cake, and she wanted to know how I was able to bake or decorate anything with my daughter in the house. I told her naptimes are golden

But letting your son "help" will pay off in the long run. I have a 6 year old boy, and he still loves to help me bake. We talk about the science behind the ingredients while we're mixing. It's good bonding time.

My daughter is 3 and loves to make pretend cakes and have her pretend birthday even when I am not baking.. hehe...
so I also do most of my decorating after she goes to bed. Otherwise she gets really disappointed when she realizes she wont get to eat or more importantly cut the cake..
But if I am working with her then I just give a piece of fondant and she uses her own play dough tools to make her cakes : ) which are always more festive then mine

i have an 18 month old and i usually wait to do the decorating when hes napping or has gone to bed for the night. way to difficult to do anything when hes awake, especially seeing as he is in the "clingy whinging phase" haha. im thinking of maybe getting him a kitchen for christmas or so.. he already has a dolls pram he loves and adores. ill let him play with whatever makes him happy.. and that isnt dangerous of course!!

I have 3 kids under the age of 5, and giving them a piece of fondant only works until they gobble it up (a few minutes at best). They have a play kitchen (they are all boys).

I tend to wait until they go to bed. Honestly, I find it impossible to get anything done otherwise.

My 3 yr old daughter is always lurking around asking, "do you have some fondant to spare?". Earlier this week, with my 17 year old niece's help, I let her help pop circles out of the cutter, which she really enjoyed. You will be amazed what your toddler is learning by watching you. I'm always so proud when she talks cake while we're watching Cake Boss or a Challenge and recognizes what they're doing.

I have 1 and 3 year old girls and it is certainly a challenge. I usually have to wait until the 1 year old is napping or in bed for the night but the 3 year old likes to "bake" with me. I give her little paper cups of "ingredients" sugar, flour to mix with water and stir while I am baking and when she gets bored with that I let her do a craft that requires little supervision. Stickers and markers or those foam pieces with the backs that peel off. For decroating I too have let her play with my fondant an I find getting her rubber stamps to make impressions in the fondant is a big hit and then she can press out with her hand and keep stamping away. And I know people will be aghast with this but YES I TOO have put her in front of a movie so that I can get my work done. Oh the shame!

lol if my son would watch movies i would too. his attention span doesnt even last half an add though. haha

Wow...for some reason, we moms figured it all out even across the world. I only do cakes for friends and family, but it still takes up a lot of time (since I'm pretty new to it). My 2 year old daughter also has a kitchen to play with, and also likes for me to pull her little table and chair into the kitchen so she can "work" with me rolling out play-doh and making her little creations. Then, it's naptime, and after nap (if I'm still working, which, I usually am) she can watch a disney movie while playing in the living room. At least our living/dining/kitchen is completely open, so I can supervise her. I have felt like a bad mom when I've put her in front of a movie, but I guess we all have to do it once in a while. If she doesn't watch a movie, we dance to some reggae from pandora radio (it seems to chill me out and that heps with creative thinking).
I still am amazed that we all consider naptime to be priceless!

So nice to get all these responses.

I use naptime and his limited TV time to get decorating done as well. I wouldnt mind setting him up a pretend kitchen at all. Doesnt matter that he is a boy he loves to play house and pretend like he is cooking or baking. He will often make a "cake" out of bath bubbles and then tell me that he made a cake for mama. He also likes playing soccer and with his toddler tools so he is well rounded for sure.

Its just fun involving him in anything I am doing. Even if it means missing fondant and endless royal icing pieces that get broken.