Well, at least one of you was impressed with the reindeer food art I created with my kids and featured in my recent WordPress Weekly photo challenge on “happy”. When I mentioned to her in the comments section that we often “play” with our food, she wanted to see more. She even gave me a fun opportunity to do it by suggesting me to participate in the Weekly Writing Challenge: And Now For Something Completely Different.
So now you can blame thank Nancy at Spirits Light The Way for this so-silly-it’s-awsome post on… FOOD ART! And this time, I’ll only mention food art I actually meant to create, not the results of my klutziness like this spilled yogurt masterpiece.
Food art: yogurt bunny with spilled yogurt
Of course, kids shouldn’t play with their food instead of eating. My kids are good at putting food in their mouths rather than screw around with it. But when we eat out, I find ways to keep them quiet and occupied, especially when they’re done with their meal and I haven’t finished my salad yet. We like to play with words so we often make up jokes, stories, or look for words that rhyme. And sometimes we play with our food.
Grape stems are quite a challenge, because they can contain so many little stems, it’s hard to see shapes in them. But some of them are less cluttered, so it helps. Here are a few examples of what you can do with grape stems. Unfortunately I don’t take enough photos of our food art. There are so many missed opportunities and grape season is almost over!
Food art: reindeer made with grape stems
We’ve made dinosaurs, dogs and other animals with grape stems but unfortunately I don’t have any photos of them. I do have a picture of a giraffe though. It was quite a challenge to find a grape stem that would stand up long enough for me to snap a photo without my four-year old trying to knock it over.
Food art: giraffe made with grape stems
Panda Express seems to be a place where creativity can spur at any moment. When my eldest was five years old, he created this palm tree with celery and a piece of chicken.
Food art: palm tree made with celery and chicken
And sometimes you don’t have too do much but pay attention to what’s right in front of your face. I’ve shown you this photo before but for those of you who missed it the first time, I’ve worth its weight in gold. Some people see the face of Jesus on toast. We see pigs! Courtesy of Panda Express, I present you the orange chicken pig, who just appeared on my son’s plate one day. The slogan was right: “Pork, it’s the other white meat!”
Pig made with orange chicken at Panda Express
Did you play with your food when you were a kid? Do you do it as a grown-up, alone or with your kids?
Perfecting Motherhood 
Okay, I seriously neglected my kids with this one. We never made food “art,” although I did make a party snack tray in the shape of clown’s face for one of my son’s birthday parties, so that should count for something. And that is definitely a chicken pig in that photo–no doubt about it. :)
A party tray in the shape of a clown’s face? Yes, of course that counts! I played with my food as a kid all the time, so I guess it’s something that never goes away…
The pig is awesome! Your boys are so creative.
The pig just showed up on the plate, so we can only thank Panda Express for it. But most people eat what’s on their plate without ever looking at it this way. We tend to notice this stuff more often than others, I think. Just like shapes in the clouds, one of my favorite activities the very few times we get clouds here.
I love how aware you and your boys are of all the beauties and ‘silly things’ out there.
Yep, we don’t need no stinkin’ video games! :-)
What a fab idea! That pig is amazing. We have grapes all the time, I must have a go :)
Try it out with the grape stems, it’s a lot of fun!
This post is even BETTER than expected! Thanks, Milka. I love how you and your boys use your imaginations!
Thanks, Nancy. I’m glad you liked it. With two active kids, I’ve had to find ways to channel the creative juices for the better good. And now I realize I need to take more pictures of our creations since so many of them disappear as fast as we make them up.
These are fabulous!
They’re almost as good as your husband’s love notes!
:D
These are great! I’m definitely introducing grape stem art to my boys at dinner tonight!
Have fun! They’re quite a challenge to work with but they’ll keep your kids busy.
Okay, the “palm tree” made me think of something else entirely (from a biopsy or a dog who got into the trash and got sick), but I was with you on the rest of the “art.” Grape stem art is wonderfully clever. Good job, mom and art teacher!
Oh, I didn’t mean to make you nauseous with the palm tree! It’s a lot larger on the photo than it was in real life for sure.
I used to play with food as a kid to make it seem like I ate some of the yucky stuff, and to try to see how much of my mom’s vegetables the dogs would eat! :)
Oh, now that’s a useful way to play with your food! I can’t imagine your mom tried to make you eat yucky stuff. ;-)
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I love them all! Although I thought that giraffe was a Praying Mantis :) On the other hand, every stem looks like Praying Mantis…When my kids were little they both refused to eat vegetable so I had been making little cute vegetable figures that were impossible to resist. It never came to my mind to create figures from what’s been left on a plate. Great idea! I love discovering new tips on how to make life with kids easier.
Thanks, we like having fun with our food, as long as we also eat it. We also made popcorn art this week: https://perfectingmotherhood.wordpress.com/2012/10/18/make-popcorn-art/
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