Having four kids, I find that in order to involve everybody to have fun, I let the older kids (that know how to read) direct the project. The eldest reads the recipe, the second eldest measures, and the younger two do the mixing. I pretty much stay back and operate the oven and am on clean up duty. I can stay relaxed, and intervene if there is contention. Also, I am the one that gets the ingredients so that everything gets put away before it gets spilled, and so the sweets get into the cookies and aren't sitting out the whole time. Everyone TASTES, but not too much. Unless your youngster is immunocompromised, they shouldn't have too much difficulty fending off small amounts of salmonella or similar pathogens in batter or dough.

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