Whether you're spending a little one-on-one time kitchen crafting with your youngster or entertaining a riled-up group of birthday party-goers, some edible activities will keep everyone entertained and engaged in goody-crafting. Make adorable, tasty treats from a few simple ingredients and by the time you're done, you'll have a ready-made treat for snack time.
Surprise your child with an easy cornucopia craft so she can make her very own tasty horn of plenty. Use a sugar cone for the horn if you have one, but any kind of ice cream cone will work just fine. Have your child fill the cone with sugary treats, such as fruit-shaped candies, marzipan fruits, candy-coated chocolates or candied citrus slices. To make the craft a healthier activity, insert a wax paper cone inside the sugar cone to keep it dry and have her fill it with fruits, such as raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and slices of apples and peaches. Lay the cone on its side on a plate and continue to fill the cornucopia as the goodies spill out around the top of the cone.
Make adorable turkeys with your child for the two of you to gobble up. You can make hand print turkey cookies from store-bought sugar cookie dough. Just roll it out, trace around your child's hand to cut out the shapes and bake the cookies. When they have cooled, decorate the palm of each cookie with chocolate icing to make the turkey's body and make each finger shape a different color for the feathers. You can make similar cookies from flower-shaped cookie cutters. Just cut off the bottom two petals from each unbaked cookie to make the base of the turkey and then decorate each petal a different color when the cookies have cooled. For an even quicker craft, start with a box of cookies and cover them with chocolate icing. Press candy corn around the top edge of each one to make turkey feathers.
Transform a few slabs of melon into a healthy harvest of leaves. Cut thin slabs of watermelon, honeydew melon, cantaloupe, and some pineapple, too. Have your child use leaf-shaped cookie cutters to cut shapes from the fruit. Arrange them on a plate to make a giant pile of autumn leaves. You can also make leaves from pizza dough for a fall-themed lunch. Roll out the dough and cut out leaf shapes. Top each leaf with pizza sauce and shredded cheese, and then cover each one with seasonal colored toppings, such as orange, red and yellow peppers and tiny pieces of carrot. Bake and enjoy. Make crescent roll leaves in a hurry, too. Just cut the shapes from store-bought crescent roll dough and top with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese before you bake.
Make edible props for the "Five Little Jack-o-Lanterns" song. Roll out sugar cookie dough until it's about 1/4 inch thick and cut out pumpkin shapes. Slide a wooden dowel into each one to make them pumpkins on sticks and bake the cookies. Decorate the cookies with orange frosting when they've cooled and use a pastry bag to pipe a Jack-o-Lantern face on each one. You can make pumpkins from store-bought cake mix, too. Just prepare the mix and pour it into miniature Bundt cake pans. Prepare a glaze while the cakes bake by combining 1 cup of confectioner's sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons of milk and a few drops of red and yellow food coloring. Tip the cooled Bundt cakes upside down on wax paper and pour the orange glaze over top. When the glaze dries, place a chocolate or brown candy on top to make the pumpkin's stem.
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