Cool Kids Cooking Games

Ice Cream in a Bag

• This game teaches the science behind how some foods are made. Follow the instructions exactly. With any recipe, failure is always possible. This too can be part of the game as the child problem solves to find the error and correct it.

  The ice cream game works well for everyone from a small family of four to a large group of children. Kids like using simple ingredients to make one of their favorite foods. This recipe makes a lot of ice cream. For each child participating, you will need:

  1 cup of whole milk
  4 tbsp. of sugar
  1/4 tsp. of vanilla
  1/4 cup of rock salt
  3 to 4 cups of ice
  Duct tape
  2 full sheets of newspaper
  1 Ziploc freezer sandwich bag
  1 Ziploc freezer quart bag

  Step One: Measure out the ingredients carefully. Put the milk, vanilla and sugar into the sandwich bag. Freezer bags work best because they tend to be stronger. Squeeze excess air out of the bag and seal.

  Step Two: Measure and put ice and salt in quart bag.

  Step Three: Put the small, sandwhich bag into the larger, quart bag. The ice and salt should be separate from the contents of the sandwhich bag. Squeeze excess air out of the quart bag and seal.

  Step Four: Fold the quart bag in half and fold two layers of newspaper around it as if wrapping a present. Secure the package with duct tape.

  Step Five: Play music and have kids shake the package. As they shake the bag, they will feel the liquid start to harden as it becomes colder. Ice cream is ready in five to 10 minutes. Feel the package for hardness before opening. In a few cases, the ice cream may not harden. Wrap the package and shake it for about five more minutes. If it never hardens, begin the process again with fresh ingredients and new bags.

  Step Six: Unwrap and eat.You can eat directly out of the small sandwhich bag. Candy such as chocolate chips or various toppings can be added to the bag.

Exploring Shapes

• Shape games challenge a child's imagination and creativity. The recipes are up to you. The point is to encourage kids to think outside the box.

  Bread Game. Use a simple bread mix. Have the children measure the ingredients and knead the dough. Once the dough is ready for baking, give each child a lump of dough to sculpt. Bake bread and have a contest to guess what each child made. Baking can change the shape of the sculpture, so using strong curves and angles will stand out more once it is finished.

  Edible Book. Another way to play this game is to give children an assignment. Ask them to create an edible book. They must use different foods to shape a book that can be eaten afterward. For this activity, allow for 15 to 20 minutes. Different foods can include slices of bread for the covers, bologna for pages, a pickle for the spine, or whatever they can come up with.

  For either game, ask the children to judge the finished "sculptures" based on criteria such as "most realistic," "most creative" or "most edible." Using cookware such as aprons or fun potholders as the awards make the project fun.

The End Result

• Whatever the reason behind the game, the key elements are experimentation and fun. Kids will look at food and cooking in a new way. Remind them that clean up is an important part of the process.