An art project that can be eaten will excite a child.
An edible three-dimensional art project is a sculpture that can be eaten. Students at different age levels can benefit from working on a food sculpture to learn about art concepts, team work or a holiday. Parents and educators will excite a child with a hands-on project that can be created and eaten afterward.
Considerations
Before starting an edible art project, parents and teachers must decide on an activity that is age appropriate. Sharp knives and hot ovens should be left for older children, and most children will need adult supervision for this kind of project. If it is a classroom activity, food allergies must be taken into consideration. Also, some parents may object to the use of candy, food coloring and sugar. Educators should decide on projects that pertain to the current lesson plans or plan around a lesson to fully utilize the art project.
Elementary School Students
Young children learn best by tactile activities, where they really get to dig in and use their hands and senses. Edible 3D art projects can correlate to holidays such as Thanksgiving or Valentine's Day. Projects do not have to use cake or candy; children can create an art jar with different colored beans in a glass jar that can be cooked in a Thanksgiving soup. Another project is to recreate a nature scene with fruits and vegetables.
Middle School Students
Middle school students learning about the color wheel or color theory can learn about mixing colors using cake frosting on cupcakes. Each color on the wheel will be mixed from the primary colors of red, blue and yellow. Students can learn about healthy eating with an edible art sculpture. For example, students can recreate a famous sculpture, like the Statue of Liberty, using vegetables and fruits. Also, science can be combined with an edible art project in making an animal cell cake.
High School Students
High school children can use food as a medium. Historically chefs have constructed art out of vegetables, chocolate and marzipan. Students can use any type of food for any type of sculpture to represent conceptual ideas or to just play with aesthetics. Students can even exhibit their work together in an art show like the Annual Edible Sculpture Contest in Hudson Valley, New York, which features many different representations of sculpture with food.
