Unusual Food Crafts for Kids

  • By: The DIG for Kids
  • Time to read: 3 min.
Affiliate Disclaimer

As an affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases including Amazon. We get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Kids crafts using food helps children to think laterally. Food craft is all about taking items that are traditionally used for one purpose and turning them into something quite different with skill and imagination. Above all, kids crafts are a simple way to enjoy some family fun together.

Orange Pomanders

Pomanders have been used for hundreds of years to disguise unpleasant odours. More recently the craft has been adopted as a pleasant activity for the family to enjoy during the Christmas season. Holiday crafts always appeal to children and this is an ideal project for them to try.

Start by choosing an orange with a reasonably thin skin, making it easier to handle. Select a fresh fruit which will give plenty of citrus scent.

Make sure that you have lots of cloves to hand. You will need to supervise this craft closely, as children use a pin to make puncture holes. Once they have done this, they can insert a clove.

The cloves are studded at regular intervals around the skin of the orange. There’s lots of scope for creativity, children can choose to make a pattern with the cloves, recreate festive symbols and words or even mark family initials.

The orange pomanders look most effective if several are displayed in a cluster. This is another chance for youngsters to make a fabulous festive display; perhaps they could decorate a small box for the purpose. The display design provides lots of chances to explore various holiday crafts.

The evocative fragrance will fill the home throughout Christmas as a constant reminder of a lovely session of family fun.

Peanut Butter Dough

Peanut butter play dough breaks all the rules – it’s a kids crafts material that’s designed to be eaten and also food designed to be played with! (Please make sure the child/children are not allergic to nuts.)

It’s so simple to make the kids will really enjoy it from start to finish. To make peanut butter play dough, you will need:

  • 12oz peanut Butter
  • 6 tblsp honey
  • 1/2 cup dry, skimmed milk powder

Combine the Peanut butter with the honey and skimmed milk powder. Continue until you have achieved the right consistency. You can adjust the ingredients as you mix. If the mixture needs to be drier add more milk powder and if it should be runnier just add honey. Finally, knead the dough lightly and it’s ready to play with.

Children enjoy dreaming up lots of fantastic sculptures from food, to flowers, monsters and creatures!

The sculptures can be decorated with lots of different things:

  • Sugar sprinkles
  • Chocolate flakes
  • Mini marshmallows
  • Coconut
  • Candy sweets
  • Dried fruit.

When they’re finished, all they have to do to clean up is eat their handiwork! This must be one of the most perfect kids crafts ever!

Don’t forget, you must consider the possibility of food allergies where any activity using nuts is concerned.

Bird Feeders

Kids are fascinated by wildlife, so they enjoy any kids crafts that encourage birds to visit their garden. This is definitely NOT an edible food craft unless you are a sparrow!

The aim is to make a ‘fat ball’ that is suspended from a tree branch. Birds adore them and will flock back for more, much to the delight of children.

To make fat balls, you will need:

  • 1 part fat (suet or lard)
  • 2 parts dry ingredients (oats, cheese scraps or rinds, seeds, nuts, dried fruit, cake or bread crumbs)

Start by melting the fat in a large pan, obviously this is a grown up’s job.

Now mix all the dry ingredients into the fat until the whole mixture is fully combined.

Take clean, empty yogurt pots and pierce a small hole in the bottom. Now thread some strong string through the hole and tie a knot to secure. Pull the string right through to the top of the pot.

Even very young children will love packing the gloop into the yoghurt pot. Once this is finished, the pots need to be refrigerated until fully set. This is usually about 8 hours.

Make sure both ends of the string are firmly knotted to keep the fat ball in place and then you are ready to cut away the yoghurt pot.

Finally hang from a branch and watch the kids’ faces light up as the birds enjoy their tasty treats.

Looking for unusual things to do with food teaches children to be resourceful and to look beyond an item’s most obvious purpose.

Leave a Reply

DISCOVERY, INFORMATION & GUIDANCE for Kids