All the good Mum sites & books will tell you that you should be doing stuff like this but it can be a right pain getting all the ingredients sorted in the presence of wailing midget who wants to measure the flour and break the eggs themselves. You'll be pleased to know that there are hundreds of easy options for slacker Mums, so get out the packet of biscuits and pre bought packet mixes and join us in our quest to make life as easy as possible.

Kids don't care about how many things go into the recipe or how it ends up much of the time, they just like mixing ingredients, making a mess and licking the bowl. This is good news indeed for anyone looking for a hassle free option. Here's a few of our favourites:

1. Iced biscuits

Pre bought biscuits are better. It will save you a lot of time and mess. Why spend an hour measuring it all out & mixing it if you can buy something really cheap instead? A packet of Rich Tea biscuits will not cost the earth and are free from most of the additives that will send your little ones crawling the walls in hissy fit tantrums. Buy a packet of them, then in a bowl mix icing sugar & water - then let the kids ice the Rich Tea biscuits.If you are particulalry desperate to get that hissy fit tantrum, add food colouring. Blue works especially well.

2.Character cakes

Packets of assorted character cakes are a little on the expensive side. Most are about £1.49 but the Postman Pat ones come in at 99p for some reason. These are the mosy basic fairy cakes, dry and tasteless to the end, but what makes them a total hit with the kids is that you get a selection of additive included stickers to put on top of the icing. This seems to be the favourite part of the baking experience for kids, so if you're strapped for time, just give the kids the stickers to eat & throw the cake mix in the bin. The good thing for you is that you dont have to faff around with getting cake cases because they're included in the box.

3. Scones

Obviously packet mix ones. Just add water in most cases (some require butter), stick your hands in and squelch away. A set of cookie cutters helps, but if you don't have any, just use an upturned drinking cup to cut them out. Delicious for even the most discerning cake fiends with a bit of melted butter & jam whilst they are still hot.

4. Meringues

Obviously you can get away with not even baking these at all. Buy the ready made nests, chop some fruit up & let the little people fill their own meringues with whatever fruit they fancy, then add cream. Given the amount of sugar involved these are guaranteed to induce serious attitude problems.

If you are feeling seriously adventurous or are entertaining a horde of little people, buy one of the big nests (big enough to fill a plate) buy a pot of whipping cream and let your children while away half an hour whisking the cream until it is thick. Fill the nest with the cream then add chopped fruit.

5. Muffins

Again, packet mixes rule. Asda do a really good one (the ones where you have to add butter are better) - just let the toddlers mix everything in the bowl, then add to the cake cases & cook. These are good for adults too, so dont be shy about making sure the kids only have 1 each.

6. Christmas / birthday cake

Buy a ready made fruit or sponge cake from the supermarket and a bag of icing sugar. Just mix the icing sugar with water to the right consistency, then let your little helpers spread it all over the cake. For added fun you can buy decorations to stick on top of it, or for a complete shambolic mess, buy an icing writing pen (a tube of icing)and let them draw things or write their name on the cake. It will never make it to Tony Harts gallery but it may just win them the Turner prize.

7. Jam tarts

The easiest of the easy. Buy a pack of ready made pastry (sweet short pastry is best). The kids can roll it out, (although you will need to make sure it does not resemble the rolling hills of Yorkshire) and cut out the shapes with cutters or an upturned drinking cup. Put them in a baking tray and add a teaspoon of jam to the middle of each one. Cook and eat.

8. Chocolate cornflake cakes

OK, so we're heading towards proper baking here, but it's about the easiest one you can do. Melt the chocolate, add cornflakes, spoon it into cake cases, then put in the firdge until the kids are in bed. Remove from fridge, eat approximately half of all cakes made, then share the remainder with the kids the next day.