My nieces decided to come spend a little time with me and my son Alaka'i the other day since he and my eldest niece Kaliko (far left) are both out of school.  When they come over, I always try to find fun and exciting things for them to try because well, it is their Christmas break after all!  My son has been nagging me to death to bake cookies lately- he's got a real sweet tooth- so I thought what better time to bake than when my nieces are over.  

These crazy kids are rather artistic, they really are...so much more than me anyhow... so they jumped at the chance to decorate cookies.  I must confess that I didn't quite think the entire process through as well as I should have because my handsome son is almost 11 (tomorrow is his birthday) and I had forgotten how challenging it is to bake with little ones.  Though my dear sweet niece Kaliko is mature for only 5 years old but her sister Alohilani is only 2 and boy oh boy does she like to make messes!!  In retrospect, I should have baked the cookies ahead of time so they could just decorate them but I thought it would be fun to allow them to help me create the sugar cookie dough.  

Well, we prepped, we mixed and we kneaded the dough until it was the perfect consistency.  I gave each of them their own ball of dough to knead figuring that Alohi and Kaliko would have a more difficult time because they are younger and aren't used to baking with me like Alaka'i is.  Though they all made somewhat of a mess, little Alohilani took the mess to a whole 'nother level.  She enjoyed the flour and kneading more than the other two, beating the dough and getting flour everywhere.  Just look at her ham it up for the camera.

So we baked, they had a blast, and made a big ol' mess.  Being the very independent little souls they are, they cut the cookies out into the shapes they desired all by themselves.  The entire experience was guided and directed by the kids.  I was simply their assistant.  I can't tell you how much they enjoyed having all the power and control.  Though I gave my two cents about the cookies being cut a bit too thick or how messily the shapes were laid once they were cut, they decided to still do it their way.  I had to interfere a few times when arguments arose about who's cookies looked better but for the most part, it was all fun and no stress.
  

They wanted me to document the mess and take photos of their very dirty cookie dough and flour covered hands.  They thought it was hilarious.

Though my darling girls did help decorate some of the cookies, I didn't have any pictures of them doing it because they kept eating the frosting and started painting each other.  Oh my nieces, my somewhat wild nieces thought it would be just as much fun to frost each other so I put the camera down to clean them up.  Then mommy came and picked them up so it was just me and Alaka'i so I let him finish decorating the rest of the batch.  He loved doing it, never complaining once.  The creative juices flowed and he made quite a few awesome designs.  He was quite proud of himself because these cookies came out much better than last year's batch he made.

As you can see, the cookies are not quite perfectly shaped or decorated, the dough was too thick so the candy cane looks chubby here but I think it's adorable.  It was a very fun day indeed for the 3 kids and for me.  It amazes me watching their creative minds think and work.