Now that kids are out of school and you need some ideas for snacks, or simply something to be creative, why not play with your food? This is something we usually don’t encourage and yet there are some simple ideas out there that could really liven up a party, or simply let your kids have some fun making their own snacks. A few of these ideas came from several different old cookbooks that I have, some from Girl Scout leaders and others from some old magazines that I was looking through for inspiration.

One of the ideas is pretty simple. The best title I saw for it was called “Ants on a Log”. All you need is a celery stick, some peanut butter (or cream cheese would work if there are nut allergies) and raisins. Fill the celery stick with your choice of filling, add the raisins and there you have it. If you think your kids don’t like celery, sometimes “dressing” things up will encourage them to try it.

Another idea would be to make butterflies in a similar way. Fill your celery stick (this one should be on the wider side) with peanut butter or cream cheese. Take two small pretzels (not the sticks) and place them on each side of the celery stick. Add small carrot sticks for antennae and the kids have a tasty buggy treat.

Do you like spiders? If you get some of the round crackers and put two of them together using cheese spread or peanut butter. Use the thin licorice whips cut into small pieces to make the legs. You could add raisind or chocolate covered pieces for eyes if you like.

If you don’t mind a bit of pre-planning, why not make “dirt”? Usually, this is a mixture of chocolate pudding on the bottom with chocolate cookie crumbles spread on top. I have seen this done up with gummy worms and it is really cute. If you are not into worms, you can put the “dirt” into clean flower pots and add artificial flowers or other decorations. If you like, create a scene by making this in a 9 x 13 inch pan and adding many different types of decorations.

Do you like water? Blue jello makes a great medium for fish tanks. Simply make the jello, let it set for a while then add gummy fish or other edible treats to make an aquarium. Again, you could expand this idea by making it in a clean fish bowl and really getting creative with the decorations! Hhhhmmm, my oldest will be finishing up her competitive swim season soon-this might be a cute idea for an end of the year treat!

I hope this has given you some ideas to help chase away those “stuck in a rut” doldrums when it comes to snack times, and craft times. Let me know some of your ideas, or how these worked out by visiting the forum. Have a great time crafting with your children!