How to Make Pretend Play Food for Children

Children love pretending to cook, and play food allows them to play and practice without making a mess. Homemade play food is less expensive to make than purchasing plastic or cardboard play foods. Clay food is more durable than play food made from cardboard. Paper-mache and balloons allow you to create perfectly round foods. Allow your children to help you in the kitchen while making the play food items. Children can participate in painting and decorating their pieces.

Things You'll Need

  • ½ cup cornstarch
  • 1 cup salt
  • 3 ¾ cup water
  • Small cooking pot
  • Pie tin
  • Wooden spoon
  • Newspaper
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • Plastic butter bucket with lid
  • Wooden paint stirring stick
  • Cardboard
  • Scissors
  • Water balloons
  • Acrylic paint and brushes
  • 3 wooden toothpicks
  • Tempura paint and brushes

Instructions

  1. Clay Play Food

    • 1

      Mix salt and cornstarch in a cooking pot. Slowly add ¾-cup water to the pot, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon until smooth. Cook on low heat until the mixture becomes stiff, in approximately two to three minutes.

    • 2

      Pour the mixture into a pie tin and let it cool. Press the clay with your hands until it forms a solid ball. Form it into shapes of food, such as small balls for peas, thick snake-like shapes for bananas or flat discs for pancakes. Use a wooden toothpick or your fingers to add indentions and texture to the play food. Let the play food rest uncovered for at least two days, so the clay hardens.

    • 3

      Paint the pretend play food items according to their natural colors, using tempura paint. Let the paint dry completely before providing the pretend food for play time.

    Paper-mache Play Food

    • 4

      Tear newspaper into 1-inch wide strips in various lengths, and set aside. Mix 1 cup of flour with 1 cup of water in a plastic bucket. Stir with a wooden stick until it's smooth and free of clumps.

    • 5

      Cut flat shapes from cardboard, such as a square for sliced bread or a freeform for a fried egg. Blow up water balloons to make round foods, such as citrus, apples or whole eggs.

    • 6

      Dip a piece of newspaper into the paper-mache paste. Remove excess paste with your fingers. Form the newspaper on the shapes of different foods. Continue making a single layer of paper on each food piece. Add more layers and create bumps and ridges, using the newspaper. Let the pieces dry in an open space for at least two days. Paint with acrylic paint to customize each food item. The paint must dry completely before they are ready for playing pretend.

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