Marshmallows are a great art medium for projects. They are inexpensive, they don’t crumble or spill, and they’re edible. They are even quiet. Building with marshmallows is a great thing to do on snow days or sick days. It’s also a fun thing to put out for the kids at family gatherings. Don’t be surprised if the adults want to play, too.
Start with clean hands. If you wet a marshmallow just a little, with a drop or two of water, it will stick to another marshmallow. You can build snowmen or igloos. Buy marshmallows in big and little sizes for variety. The colored ones add a little extra fun, too. You can flatten marshmallows, or stretch them taller.
You can also join marshmallows with cut up drinking straws, toothpicks or pretzels. It’s very easy to build ants, spiders, or buildings, or even marshmallow castles.
When the kids start to tire of that, add a bag of gumdrops and let them go. Gumdrops will need the sharpness of toothpicks, pretzels don’t work very well on them. Or, you can slice off the end of the gumdrop to expose the sticky side. They will then to stick to just about everything! Small children will need help with the toothpicks, and more supervision since toothpicks are sharp. Adults should handle the knives. Think about the brightly colored things your kids can make – monsters and spiders, small dogs or other animals. Faces are fun to make too, with crazy hair, different color eyes, and big smiles.
With gumdrops and marshmallows, the possibilities are endless. I love to see what the kids can come up with. There are no right or wrong ways to do this, it’s just fun and creative.
When everyone is done creating, take some pictures. Then, you can eat your art if you want to, or display it on the table for a few days.
More cupboard art: