19 Fun Food Ideas

Decorate With Leftover Candy

Pre-made cookies, candies and chocolates—and even marshmallow Peeps!—make an easy and effective topper for cakes. Try our Peeps Sunflower Cake to get started.

Simple Sandwich Art

Send your kids off to class with a fun flip on the bento box, turning a plain old lunch into edible artwork. Make owly eyes and a beak with cheese. Snug everything up in plastic wrap to keep your creation as cute as can be.

Ice Cream Cone Treats

I came up with this recipe as a way for my grandkids to enjoy Rice Krispies treats without getting sticky hands. You can also pack the cereal mixture into paper cups and insert a wooden pop stick to create cute pops. —Mabel Nolan, Vancouver, Washington

Magic Wands

These fun and colorful wands don't need to be made by a magician to be magical. You can change the colors to fit any party theme. —Renee Schwebach, Dumont, Minnesota

Beary Cute Cookies

These cheery and cute cookies will delight kids of all ages! I like to make fun foods but don't care to spend a whole lot of time fussing. So the idea of using candy for the bears' features was right up my alley. —Susan Schuller, Brainerd, Minnesota

Veggie Rainbow

Tip your hat to St. Pat with a rainbow of multicolored munchies. Suddenly, even the littlest leprechauns are happy to eat their veggies. Put a pot of honey-mustard dippin’ gold at the end of the arc. Hummus works, too.

Bunny Pancakes

Kick off Easter Sunday with a breakfast that’s as tasty as it is cute. Start with pancake mix so you can hightail it out of the kitchen in no time. Make a tail with a dollop of whipped cream. Then fuzz it up with coconut.

Easter Egg Mice

Here’s an easy way to use up all those leftover hard-cooked Easter eggs! Every year, Cyndy Gerken of Naples, Florida designs a new fun food for her nieces. They loved these guys that sport radish pieces for ears and shredded-carrot tails.

Ugly Sweater Cookies

Perhaps the most amazing thing about Ugly Sweater Cookies is how cute they are. Try these classic gingerbreads on for size. —Christy Thelen, Kellogg, Iowa

Frosty Polar Bears

I love spending time in the kitchen with my nieces. This is the perfect recipe to make with the little ones. Dang cute, easy and portable! —Emily Tyra, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Rainbow Cake with Clouds

Some cakes stand on their own without icing. For this bright Rainbow Cake, use a little whipped cream to make fluffy clouds. —Janet Tigchelaar, Jerseyville, Ontario

Ice Cream Sandwiches

Roll the classic ice cream sandwich into any sweet snack you like (pictured here: Teddy Grahams, chocolate-covered pretzels and confetti sprinkles), and get a slam-dunk of a treat that has the whole gang screaming for seconds. Before you decorate, let the ice cream get a little soft so goodies stick. Refreeze if needed.

Beach Babies

Make a splash with these darling cupcakes from Leslie Merritt of Laguna Niguel, California. Bouncing on blue “waves,” the babies, beach balls and inner tubes are handmade from fondant and chocolate and entirely edible. Think of these for your next summer birthday or pool party!

Veggie Garden

Peg Owens of Gainesville, Florida “plants” veggies or fruits on wooden skewers in a bed of wheatgrass. It takes about a week to grow the grass, she says.

Green Sherbet Froggie

Don’t kiss summer goodbye until you’ve puckered up to this sublime dessert in disguise. This one’s so easy, kids could make it themselves! —Taste of Home Test Kitchen

Butterfly Cake

Hollie McNeese from Bonney Lake, Washington whipped up this cute cake, made with two round cakes and four cupcakes, one Halloween when her daughter wanted a cake to match her costume for the school carnival.

Yummy Mummies

Raid your fridge for everyday ingredients like chicken strips, ranch dressing and mustard to make an instant Halloween hit. Dinner’s so simple it’s scary, and that’s a good thing! Fill a squirt bottle with ranch dressing while the chicken strips bake. Drizzle in zigzags to make the mummies’ wraps.

Turkey Snack

Bring on the Thanksgiving snack attack. These light bites are made for gobbling. You can even switch up your turkey fixin’s by fanning colorful veggies slices around half a pepper (filled with dip, of course) instead.

Candy Garland

Sweeten up your holiday trimmings with garlands starring everyone’s favorite chocolate-covered treats. Grab these goodies at the grocery store or dunk and decorate your own. The best part: taking them down. Mmm.