Children love to manipulate and handle food. This is wonderful as it provides great sensory play and even helps build math skills. And of course they love to eat it too! Here are some fun ideas for food crafts that are healthy. Bonus: Easy clean up and prep make it easy to do these in the after school setting!
Category: Fun Food Projects
Snowy Crafts!
Whether you live in a sunny or snowy climate, tis the season for some fun, snow-inspired crafts!
Here are a few ideas for your after school program!
1) Decorate a Snowman Cookie
Supplies Needed:
- Sugar Cookies (in 2 to 3 diff. sizes- Nilla Wafers work great for the head)
- White Frosting
- Mini M&M’s, Skittles (for face and buttons)
- Twizzlers (for scarf)
- Black Licorice – cut into pieces (for top hat)
- Spoons (for spreading frosting)
- Paper Plates
- Pretzel Sticks (for arms)
Place 2-3 cookies on a plate. Allow kids to ice using spoons. Decorate your snowman (or woman).
2) Edible Snowballs on a Stick
I’ve posted this one before…it’s one of my favorites! A fun, winter food craft for your enjoyment that’s super simple too!
Supplies needed:
- white chocolate chips or Candiquik** (see below)
- microwave safe bowls
- large marshmallows
- sprinkles
- craft sticks
- wax paper (for drying)
A work colleague of mine shared this with me! I tried it out with a group of five year olds and they had a blast!! Have an adult melt the white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Allow the children to attach their marshmallow to a craft stick, dip in white chocolate, and sprinkles (if desired) and allow to dry.
Eat and enjoy!
**An alternative to using white choc. chips is a new product I found (well, new for me anyway) called candiquik. This stuff is awesome! It’s microwavable and comes with it’s own tray! Also, as an added bonus — you can dip up to 18-20 projects, and add the sprinkles — all without reheating! This is great because each time you reheat white choc chips they get lumpier and sometimes brown. You can find this product online at amazon.com or at your local Target store.
3) 3D Paper Snowflakes
I’ve been making regular paper snowflakes all my life and have since passed on my love for making them to the kids at work. One day while we were making them, one of the kid’s parents came in and said, “Have you ever made a 3D snowflake?” “No! I had not” I replied. (How cool does that sound?) She showed us how to make them, and from that day forward, we loved it. It looks challenging…and for me the process was hard to remember at first. But, follow this link to wikihow: How to make a 3D snowflake and you will end up with something that looks like this:
I hope you all settle in with a cup of warm cocoa and enjoy this Winter season with your charges! What will you be up to this winter?