This is the first in a series of guest posts from Carolyn Clegg, local designer and mom. Hope you enjoy it! (Interesting in guest blogging for us? Email charmaine@hrmparent.ca to chat!)

Like many two-year-olds, my daughter sits still for very few things. On a good day she’ll stop long enough to eat a few crumbs of food, get mesmerized by a few minutes of The Wiggles and maybe play with her blocks long enough to allow me to go to the washroom in peace. But, there is one thing guaranteed to plant her in her seat for a good long while, and that is $5 spent at the local Bulk Barn. Because the Bulk Barn feeds my daughters favourite activity – pretend cooking.

In this picture – coffee beans, shredded coconut and various drink crystals

When it’s time to pretend cook, we lay out our play blanket on the patio or the kitchen floor to catch the spills (of which there are plenty) and then bring out some bowls and spoons of varying shapes and sizes along with our dry baking ingredients. I then sit back and supervise from the wings, because I’ve found the secret to this activity's success is to get out of the way. Let your little one pour, transfer, dump, mix and explore the ingredients on their own.

The older my daughter gets, the more controlled an activity this becomes. We started out with corn meal as our only ingredient when she was just 7 months old. I picked corn meal out from the crevices of my kitchen for weeks afterward! But, hold tight. The eventual payoff of watching your toddler sit still for even a little while is worth the price of a quick clean-up!