• Fun cooking project.Cookie image by Jess Padgett from Fotolia.com
  
  Younger kids love baking--especially when they are allowed to get messy in the process. Cooking time is a great arena to involve a little bit of precision and fine motor skills with the freedom to be creative. Plus, however the project goes, there is always the joy of eating your food creation.
  
  

Cookie Houses

• Gingerbread houses are a lot of work, but consider a small scale version for a fun and delicious craft. Use graham crackers and icing for the basic structure. Spread thick icing on the edges of your graham crackers to bind them to one another. When the structure is complete, decorate with several kinds of candy pieces. Try wafer cookies or pieces of black licorice for roof shingles. Use small candy pieces to lay out a path or a lawn. Your cookie house will look great on display for any party or event, and will be a treat to enjoy afterward.
  
  

Puffed Rice Cereal Sculpture

• Puffed rice cereal treats are a basic recipe made of melted butter and marshmallows mixed in with puffed rice cereal. Instead of placing the mixture into a pan and setting it in the fridge, consider making the treat into an art project. Give children a chunk of the mixture, as if they were working with clay. Allow children to mold their treat into the shape of their choice. The possibilities are endless and can be anything from an animal shape to the first letter of their name. Decorate with some small candy pieces (chocolate chips or sprinkles, for example) and allow them to set in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
  
  

Pancake Face

• Give your child a pancake on a large plate along with several materials to turn it into a face. You can opt for typical breakfast materials--using bacon for a mouth and a bit of a scrambled egg for a nose--or make it a sweet face, using strawberries for lips and two almonds for eyes.