Does anyone have any good "food crafts" to do with a group of middle and high school kids? No baking or stoves.

The group of kids I have coming to the library has been asking for play-with-your-food type programs. Over the summer, I offered a "sweet sushi" workshop, where the kids cut sircles out of poundcake, and using fruit by the foot, swedish fish, coconut shreds, and white frosting, made everything look like sushi rolls. I'd love to find more ideas like this one -- we all love to play with our food!!

Comments

[Dr.crazy]

you could make artifical flavors using butaric acid

[afridave]

I recomend teaching them to make pickles,beer,wine and cheese its also scientific and biological.

[foxy1paco]

I'd recommend microwave brownies, and chocolate cake.


http://www.instructables.com/id/Mug-Brownie/
http://www.instructables.com/id/5-minute-Chocolate-Cake/

[pyro=fire]

you can make pop corn and put them into balls with Carmel. Thems is goooooddssss :P

[BHStibal]

microwave smores. 'Nuff said.

[wholegrain]

The Edible Crafts site offers awesome suggestions for playing with food.

ediblecrafts.craftgossip.com/

Check the Kids category!

[Speedmite]

make solar ovens and cook cookies in them.

[kmilliron]

Make home-made ice cream. I enjoy getting everything together in the big bag and tossing it around a room. WEAR GLOVES! It gets cold.

[cvianna1]

The ice cream idea is great. I have used it to teach chemistry (how does salt make things colder?) Another project I've done is to use yeast, sugar and warm water to blow up a balloon to illustrate the properties of cellular respiration.

I have taken various fruits and vegetables put thumbtacks in one end and a brass brat in the other and used a volt meter to see which made the best battery.  You can use this to discuss scientific method, electricity, chemistry and teach math by graphing the various results.

You can make farmer cheese using unpasteurized milk and an acid like vinegar or lemon juice, there's recipes on the web. This is great for teaching history.

I guess how you use food products will depend on your goal. Do you want to use food just to teach?   or do you want something to eat?

[Apple Rule]

Ginger bread houses :) with already made ginger bread, exelent team building exercise. good luck!

Regards, Craig

[d2j5]

what you could do is( this might be more of a long term project but) have them pick a vegetable( thats possible used in a salad to keep within the no-baking area) and have them each grow one ingredient ( like lettus or radish) then when fully grown you can finaly make it ( salad probably). im also thinking you could try to make a dressing to go with it. i like to use stoves theres alot more to do.

[Zengineer1618]

Butter Making is super easy.

[katita]

HI, here are a couple a suggestions....from katita.....nachos....take canned beans...bag of chips....sourcream...can of cheese...just add water...and connect a crock pot...to warm it....then add hot sauce.....ALso..ginger bread house...take some collected assorted candies...with homemade frosting...some gramcrackers.....and slapthem together with frosting on a foil cardboard....if you have small or 1/2 gallon empty  milk cartons..to put underneath...have fun...ALso....flour tortillas w/cream cheese spreaded and fresh lettuce...chopped up immitation crab...w/ pico de gallo...then roll it up tight and slice them....very cool......

[gameboy7oa]

Im a highschooler (10th grade) and i think that the sushi idea is actualy kinda cool.

[Hackrtanman]

i am a middle schooler and what most of the people like i fun stuff!

try making oda.there are millions of flavors that you can make and you can experiment with it.heck you could even turn it it into scienc!

[cupcake811]

 Try fruit sushi! I found this in a magazine though have never tried it.
1. Wrap a banana in a fruit roll-up
2. Cut it into sushi-like pieces
3. Dip in yogurt

Other ideas:
-buy sugar cookies and icing, sprinkles, etc and have them decorate cookies
-not really good to eat, but maybe spaghetti/marshmallow structures
-around the holidays ginger bread men
-ice cream sundaes
-make your own candy bars
-if microwaves are allowed: peppermint bark, peanut butter fudge (www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/peanut-butter-fudge-recipe/index.html), smores

[CrLz]

Two ideas, food science lab and art studio.

Exploring various cooking techniques can be a great way to learn physics and chemistry.  Oil and vinegar salad dressings are good examples of emulsions, accessible at room temperatures.  Making ice cream using ice and salt is a great example of freezing point depression.  Dave47's Pop Bottle Ice Cream Maker looks like a good Instructable for a class.

There is an excellent book Play with Your Food by Joost Elffers and Saxton Freyman.  Freyman's sculptures are very funny and could be inspiring for students (@ch’d images).  My father used the book with younger children and had great success.

[Very Interesting]

Check out this instructable - all pre-packed

Halloween Candy Bouquet by veta5

[origamiwolf]

If microwave ovens are allowed, you can do some peep jousting.

Edible origami is also quite fun.

[lemonie]

Regular Sushi isn't that hard to do?

L

[Kiteman]

Using raw fish has major health & safety implications for the question's author.  SUgar and vegetable-based foods have fewer and easier-to-meet hygiene regulations (in the UK, at least).

Have you noticed how many National Trust properties are quietly vegetarian?  Ask them why.

[lemonie]

You don't have to use raw fish. The basic Sushi-roll is not that hard to do, it's cold and versatile.

L

[Kiteman]

Oh, there are sort of leaf-and-rice rolls etc, are there not?

(I've never gone for sushi, as I don't like fish.)

[lemonie]

It's based upon sticky-rice, what you put in it is up to you. Never had a fancy for whale myself...

L

[Jayefuu]

Coleslaw? It's delicious! Everyone should learn to make coleslaw, it's so much better than shopbought.

[Kiteman]

How about sherbet?

Some of these puddings are no-bake.

You could try gummi surgery (not all the procedures use sharp knives).

Or you could search for the themes you like, or the ingredients you have available (such as these results for "no-bake").

[Koosie]

You can also try kebabs along the same idea.  Cold meats, "fancy" cheeses and maybe even marshmellows!  That should get interesting, especially with the sharp sticks ;-)

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

no offene but most middle school (what i am) and high school kids would not like that much but anyway i think theres a group for this kind of stuff