ifamily | Sculpt

            Sculpting is an activity that is pretty relaxing and unleashes great creativity. I am often found sitting playing with my kids’ play-dough long after their attention span has run out trying to finish my masterpiece. It’s a very tactile activity and allows children to physically get into something as well as create in 3-D. Though most of us with young children probably sculpt something out of play-dough every week it’s likely that the general population rarely gets this chance and more rare for everyone that a family gets to sculpt something on a large scale.

            The sculpture I’m suggesting this week is not one molded from a conventional material such as clay or even sand but from Rice Crispie cereal! This can be a bit of a tricky activity but it can also be a lot fun. To begin you definitely need to decide as a group what you’re going to be sculpting because you actually have a short window of time to do your actual sculpting once the melted marshmallow and cereal are mixed. I’ve made a few Rice Crispie sculptures in my lifetime and they were all pretty great. Our first year we made the classic castle complete with a blue jello mote and another year we made a life size guitar that boasted “shoe string licorice” strings. Let your imagination run freely and sketch out a simple plan before you begin.

            It’d be best to have a couple of boxes of the cereal and a few bags of marshmallows for your entire project but you should only mix and prepare small amounts at a time so you have a bit more freedom in molding it. Be sure to prepare a sturdy cardboard line with wax paper to use as the base for your sculpture. Another trick is to use well greased hands to do the molding. The marshmallow will be hot so it’s likely best to have older children and adults do the main sculpting. There will be plenty of opportunity for the younger ones to add decorations or “paint” to the sculpture once it’s cooled.

            Once it’s all finished you can use your own discretion to decide whether you eat it or not!

 

And wouldn't these cute Rice Crispie Pops be a great treat too?

 I found them on Twig and Thistle