Play With Your Food!

 

 

Circus Snack Box

Playing with food and creating a sensory experience is so much fun!  Let’s face it, this is even fun for adults.  I love iced animal cookies. They are so pretty, taste so good, and children can play with them as well as eat them. I enjoy the process of creating fun activities and feel the excitement of a child when a sensory project is really fun like this one.  Creating with the senses never gets old.  It doesn’t matter how old you get and this one has it all.   Go ahead and join in the fun as you share it with your child, children, or your entire class.

This is a simple and very yummy sensory project that fully involves all of the senses: sight, taste, smell, touch, and hearing. The specific ingredients used are included below; however, feel free to vary the contents of the snack box. You can connect the contents to a book you are reading, a lesson, or even a unit theme. As with any project in the sensory book, use what is readily available and inexpensive, and have lots of fun!

You can extend the experience by asking children to explain the sensory components. What do you taste? What colors do you see? What does it sound like when you pour in the cereal or drop in some sprinkles? What do the different goodies in the box feel like? Can you tell me about the different textures?  These questions and so many more can help children learn as well as develop their language skills.

Give it a try and share your pictures in the comments.

Circus Snack Box

Supplies:

  • peanut butter cereal
  • iced animal cookies
  • marshmallow swirl sticks (or another decorative ingredient)
  • square fruit candies
  • colorful tiny candies
  • individual snack box for each child

Let each child create their own fun snack box. Start by creating a base of cereal, then let them carefully place the iced animal cookies where they would like. Add the marshmallow swirl sticks for more decoration. Then sprinkle in fruit candies and top with a sprinkle of colorful candies.

The creation is colorful, fun, and perfectly themed for a circus party or a similar event. This snack box would be perfect to prepare as a sensory experience and then continue with a circus themed event. The children would be able to eat the snack they made while they enjoy the event.

For the example we used a pencil box. Just wash it with soap and water before beginning the project.

 

All of the projects on the blog can be found in the books on Dr. Andrea’s Books page (on the tab at the top of this page).  You can find many more sensory projects like this one in my book: Process Art: Sensory Experiences.