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Easy Santa Cookies for Kids

There is something truly magical about spending time in the kitchen during the holidays with little ones. The scent of vanilla and cinnamon fills the air, flour dust dances on countertops, and giggles echo as children roll dough, press cookie cutters, and eagerly await their sweet creations. Baking holiday cookies together is more than just making treats — it is creating memories, building traditions, and sharing moments of warmth, love, and togetherness.

Growing up, many of us remember pulling out the same recipe cards each December, stacking baking sheets, and frosting gingerbread or sugar cookies while holiday music played in the background. For parents today, those memories become precious inspiration. Baking with kids transforms a simple recipe into a family-centered event: measuring, mixing, decorating, tasting, and decorating again. Every sprinkle becomes a chance to laugh. Every cookie cutter shape becomes a little masterpiece.

For busy moms and dads, the holidays are often best enjoyed when we slow down and lean into tradition. A kitchen full of flour-covered noses and sticky little fingers is not chaos — it is the kind of happy chaos that lasts in photos, in memories, and in family lore. Kids might not remember every toy or every gift they receive, but they will remember the warmth of the kitchen, the laughter around the table, and the pride in creating something with their own hands.

In this post you will find inspiration for simple, holiday-ready cookie ideas kids can bake with you. We’ll explore why this tradition matters, how to make cookie baking an easy and joyful experience, and ways to turn your kitchen into a cozy holiday cookie factory — without stress or mess overtaking the fun. Whether you have toddlers, tweens, or big kids, these ideas are for anyone who wants to make the holidays sweet, creative, and full of love.

So tie on an apron, dust off the mixing bowls, preheat the oven, and let’s bake memories together.

Step by step instructions

Want to make these fun and simple cookies with your kids?  Here are the step by step instructions for making some memories and some sugary goodness.

Materials:

Step 1: Bake cookies using this basic sugar cookies recipe.  I used simple circle and square cookie cutters to shape the cookies prior to baking. 

Step 2: Prepare Fondant. Using Red Fondant, cut Santa Hats for the Cookies and set aside to dry.  I used the same cookie cutters for the fontant that I used for the cookies.  Once I cut the whole shape, I moved the cookie cutter down about an inch and cut the bottom of the hat so it made a moon shape (on the circle) or a thinner square shape. 

I then used a circle punch to make the balls on the end of the hat out of white fondant. 

Step 3: After Cookies have cooled.  Give frosting, fodant pieces, and candy eyes to kids with a knife or spoon.  Have the kids put frosting on the bottom of the cookie for a beard.  Use a little frosting to attach hat, eyes, and hat ball to cookie.  

Enjoy!

Santa Cookies Kids can Make

Santa Cookies Kids can Make

Easy Kid-friendly Santa Cookies

Materials

  • Sugar Cookie Recipe
  • Circle Cookie Cutters
  • Square Cookie Cutters
  • Red Fondant
  • White Fondant
  • Fondant punch
  • White Frosting
  • Candy Eyes

Instructions

    Step 1: Bake cookies using this basic sugar cookies recipe.  I used simple circle and square cookie cutters to shape the cookies prior to baking.  Step 2: Prepare Fondant. Using Red Fondant, cut Santa Hats for the Cookies and set aside to dry.  I used the same cookie cutters for the fontant that I used for the cookies.  Once I cut the whole shape, I moved the cookie cutter down about an inch and cut the bottom of the hat so it made a moon shape (on the circle) or a thinner square shape.  I then used a circle punch to make the balls on the end of the hat out of white fondant.  Step 3: After Cookies have cooled.  Give frosting, fodant pieces, and candy eyes to kids with a knife or spoon.  Have the kids put frosting on the bottom of the cookie for a beard.  Use a little frosting to attach hat, eyes, and hat ball to cookie.   Enjoy!

© Holly Lasha

Why Make Cookies with Your Kids for the Holidays

Baking cookies with your kids during the holidays is one of those traditions that warms your heart as much as the oven warms your kitchen. It is simple, meaningful, and full of opportunities for laughter, creativity, and connection. While store-bought treats are convenient, nothing compares to the magic of homemade cookies — especially when little helpers are involved.

When children measure ingredients, stir batter, cut dough, and decorate cookies, they learn more than baking. They learn patience, teamwork, creativity, and sometimes even a little math or science as dough rises or icing sets. But more importantly, they learn the value of making something from scratch and sharing it with love. It becomes less about the perfect cookie shape or flawless frosting and more about the experience — the giggles, the floury faces, the pride in pulling a warm tray from the oven, and the joy of sharing cookies with family.

From toddlers placing sprinkles to older kids carefully piping icing designs, holiday cookie baking becomes a shared memory. It does not have to be perfect or costly. A simple sugar-cookie recipe, a few festive cookie cutters (stars, reindeer, bells, Santas), and some colorful sprinkles are often all you need. You can roll dough on a floured countertop, chill it, bake it, and let your kids choose frosting colors or sprinkle designs. It is easy, fun, and deeply rewarding — for them and for you.

The kitchen becomes a hub of holiday magic. Music plays softly. The tree lights glow. Cookie shapes accumulate on trays. And in that warmth, time slows down just enough for family to connect, create, and cherish simple moments. That is why we bake with kids the holidays — to celebrate together, to laugh together, to make magic together.

Holiday Cookie Baking Fun

Holiday cookie baking is one of the most joyful traditions families can share. It blends creativity, deliciousness, and togetherness into a single afternoon — and often a lovely, flour-covered, memory-filled evening too. Whether you are shaping Santa cookies with toddlers, rolling gingerbread with older children, or experimenting with colored dough and festive sprinkles, baking becomes play. It becomes art. It becomes tradition.

A cookie-baking session can be as simple or as elaborate as you like. Have a stash of holiday cookie cutters ready — snowflakes, reindeer, bells, candy canes, Santa faces. Keep bowls of colored sugar, sprinkles, or nonpareils on the table. Let the kids pick the shapes and decorate their own creations. Play holiday music in the background. Use parchment paper as a no-mess canvas.

For younger kids, let them press the cutters and place sprinkles. For older kids, involve them in mixing, measuring, or even helping manage the oven steps. Maybe make it a holiday tradition: one family night each December where the cookie jar gets filled, the playlist gets queued, and pajamas and aprons come out. At the end, treat the kids to a warm cookie straight from the oven and a glass of cold milk — the kind of treat that tastes of holidays, love, and home.

Holiday cookie baking fun is not about perfection. It is about connection. It is about tasting sweet sugar and laughter in the same bite. It is about warmth, nostalgia, and memories that linger long after the last crumb is gone.

Conclusion for simple holiday baking with kids

Holiday cookie baking with kids is one of those simple traditions that feels small in the moment and huge in memory. In an era filled with screens, busy schedules, and hectic days, few things compare to the joy of rolling dough, pressing cookie cutters, frost­ing shapes, and watching laughter swirl around a warm kitchen. Baking together creates more than cookies — it creates connection, memories, warmth, and childhood magic.

When I bake with my kids, I see their faces light up with anticipation as dough becomes shapes. I hear them giggle over a cookie stuck in the cutter or cheer when the oven dings. I smell the vanilla and sugar mixing in the bowl, and I watch sprinkle-covered fingers dip into frosting. These moments are fleeting, but they matter. They become stories we tell again and again: “Remember when we made reindeer cookies and the flour spilled everywhere?” or “Remember how we left the Santa ones for the morning before Christmas?”

Holiday cookies bring the season alive in the simplest, sweetest way. They turn ordinary evenings into traditions. They give kids a sense of pride. They give parents a slice of nostalgia. They give everyone a reason to gather, to slow down, and to savor sweetness — sugar and togetherness.

But beyond nostalgia, baking cookies with kids teaches patience, creativity, and teamwork. It shows them the satisfaction of working together and producing something from scratch. It invites them to make choices, decorate with abandon, and taste the literal fruits of their labor. Even cookies that don’t come out perfect — slightly cracked icing, misshapen dough, uneven sprinkles — they still taste like love, effort, and home.

Serve those treats on holiday platters, festive napkins, themed party ware — and suddenly the simple becomes special. Every cookie feels like part of a celebration. Every tray brought to the table becomes a gift of love. And every child’s proud grin becomes a memory etched in heart.

So this season, preheat your oven, pull out your mixing bowls, and invite your little ones to join in. Let spatulas swirl, let laughter spill over measuring cups, let sprinkles glitter across the counter. Bake sugar cookies, gingerbread, chocolate crinkles, peanut-butter blossoms, or whatever recipe your family loves. Decorate them with joy, serve them with Christmas music playing, and watch how a simple tradition transforms into holiday magic.

In years to come, your kids will remember more than just cookies — they’ll remember how they felt. Loved. Creative. Included. Magical. That is the best part of holiday cookie baking with kids.

Happy baking, and may your kitchen be warm, cozy, and full of holiday cheer.

If you love these holiday cookies, pin this image to your holiday Pinterest Board:

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