I have been observing the kids closely to see what theme, or an idea would inspire all of them. It was difficult. I would always get one or two interested in something but the other kids would wonder off after couple of minutes, not engaging anymore.

Then I had a revelation – baking! That was one of the things they all really enjoyed. They loved measuring, mixing and cutting out cookies. They have been making play dough cupcakes for a while now and they loved selling in their store, play picnic and restaurant… all the signs were there.

One morning I came to the classroom early. I got a ‘bakery’ sign ready. I got baking trays, cookie cutters and rollers. I made new play dough at home: vanilla and chocolate. I brought pictures of all different pastries – and sponges! 

As soon as the kids came in, their eyes lit up. They immediately started playing – baking cookies, making cupcakes and selling their creations in the store. I got the sponges out and asked them what we could make them out of them for our store.

Brownies!

Cakes!

More cakes!

So we did. We used a glue gun to connect them together, cut them into squares rectangles and triangles and then started decorating them. We used our colored glue as frosting for the cakes and glitter as sprinkles.

It was such an engaging project. They were so quiet and focused at the task at hand. They kept squeezing and mixing colors, adding sprinkles and more paint. The cakes turned out so beautiful!

Just a note – if you decide to try it out. I would recommend an acrylic paint layer before the glue. A lot of the beautiful pigment got absorbed by the sponges. They are still pretty but less colorful.