A is for Aprons

When getting ready to cook, the first thing Bear and Bee want to do after washing their hands is put their aprons on.  As I mentioned in the article on Hygiene andSafety, it is important for children to dress properly when cooking, and one of the ways to do this is to wear a child sized apron. 

Bee and Bear in their aprons.

Not long ago I made aprons and chef's hats for Bear and Bee which they love and often use in their pretend kitchen as well. The only problem with the aprons is that the girls can’t put them on by themselves.  I am always trying to encourage their independence so I did an internet search for children’s aprons and came across some interesting designs for aprons on Montessori blogs.  I then found a free pattern for the style of apron I was after on Mama Liberated’s blog - I just knew I had to make them.  The elastic in the neck strap and the velcro to attach the waist strap makes the aprons perfect for young children.  It was certainly one of those ‘why didn’t I think of that?’ moments when I saw this idea.

Only problem was that I had two perfectly good aprons and not enough time to sew two new ones.  So I adapted the ones we had by removing the neck strap, inserting a piece of elastic at the right length and restitching it to the apron.  I then removed the waist strap from one side of the apron, shortened the strap on the other side, added some Velcro and hey presto – two aprons that Bear and Bee can now put on themselves. Happy Days!

The reworked aprons

It’s a great pattern, easy to follow and has some lovely ideas for embellishing the aprons and making them for different uses – think gardening and cleaning.  I plan on making some next year from this pattern and will add a pocket to the front for carrying a notebook and pretend coffee shop play.

If you don’t want to make your own aprons there are some great handmade ones available online at places like Etsy (just do a search for Montessori apron).

Do you have an apron for your child to use while cooking?