Summer Food Projects

Labor Day is right around the corner and that means just a few more weeks of free time before kids head back to school for another year. While this translates to the peak of vacation traveling for some, there are plenty of great activities for making use of the special days spent at home.

Kitchen and cooking projects are fun and interesting, but often they are educational as well. From learning to measure ingredients to creating at-home science projects, there is a lot of value that can come from playing in the kitchen. All you need is a few ingredients and tools and you'll be on your way to a kitchen product that both you and your kids can be proud of.

These projects vary in their age-appropriate levels, so just be sure to have a responsible older sibling, babysitter or parent around before getting started.

Read on for five great kitchen-based summer projects, and let us know how you're spending these last few weeks before Labor Day in the comments below!

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Macaroni Art

Okay, this one is a little bit obvious, but using macaroni to decorate anything and everything is a great rainy day activity. Switch things up and make the classic project more creative (and fun) by painting bow tie pasta and making it into necklaces and bracelets.

This project does require the use of a hot glue gun, so be sure to work carefully and keep hot tools away from young children. We recommend preparing this step before starting the project.

How To Make Macaroni Art

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Melon Kebabs

This is a fun way to make an average afternoon snack into an afternoon-long activity. Let kids use cookie cutters to cut out shapes of melon or other harder fruit and then slide them onto wooden skewers. Serve with yogurt for dipping. Fun, delicious, easy and healthy, too!

How To Make Melon Kebabs

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Pizza Box Solar Oven

Thanks to all of the chemistry involved in cooking, the kitchen is a great place for science experiments. When it is hot enough outside, so is the sidewalk. This neat project turns any cardboard pizza box into a cool solar oven, perfect for warming cookies or making s'mores outside. Next time you bring in pizza for dinner, save that box!

How To Make a Pizza Box Solar Oven

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Mustache Cracker Faces

It's always fun to play with your food and creating these silly faces is a great way to do so. With a simple spread of hummus and a few wisely cut olive and carrot pieces, kids can create an array of hilarious mustached faces. Afterwards, dig in for a yummy snack!

How To Make Mustache Cracker Faces

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Sweet Tortilla Snowflakes

This snack craft activity is great come holiday season because of its snowflake theme, but it's still plenty of fun now. Use folded tortillas in place of paper to have kids cut out edible snowflakes, then simply brush with butter, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, and bake. So fun!

Sweet Tortilla Snowflakes

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