Make your own cereal bar, and get crafty with Cheerios during the holidays.
With kids home a little more around the holidays, it helps to have a few tricks to entertain them in fun new ways. And what's easier than working with what you've got? Your favorite cereal makes great eating, and it can also be a fantastic tool for sparking kids' creativity in the kitchen.
Our Betty Crocker Kitchens recently played host to a group of kids as a test panel—to see what flavors they approved, and how kids of all ages liked to use food for both mealtime and play-time fun. We started with a dozen different kinds of Cheerios, and let kids create one-of-a-kind combinations of their favorite Cheerios varieties. Then they decorated their own cereal boxes, used Cheerios to make original art and just kept creating from there. With 12 varieties, and an assortment of colors and flavors, Cheerios not only makes a great breakfast or snack, but it's a natural fit for nearly any art project.
Our kids test-drove some fun projects, now try them at home! Here's how to do it:
Make your own mix
Set up a cereal bar so kids are able to mix and match their favorite kinds of cereal into one bowl. There's no shortage of the fun kids can have with flavor when they mix and match different varieties of Cheerios. You can even try serving cereals the breakfast bar way with a cereal dispenser. Perfect for a sleepover, a birthday party or a holiday morning with family in town.
Decorate with Cheerios
Using crayons and markers, draw a picture or use a coloring book and fill in the drawing with different colors of Cheerios.
Design a one-of-a-kind box
Use paper to wrap your cereal box, then decorate the box with everything from Cheerios and sequins to glitter, stickers and construction paper.
Get crafty with Cheerios
For more fabulous crafts, including a bird feeder, check out Betty's Cheerios crafts collection and Cheerios Cookbook, and make all your holiday time home with kids into edible adventures.
No end to the DIY fun
Playing around with mixology is a great building block for any party. Whether you're putting out a bunch of mix-ins for mashed potatoes or toppings for tacos and pizza, kids enjoy food so much when they have lots of options and get to make it their own.
6 More Cheerios Recipes & Crafts