More Than Cookies: 8 Easy Cookie-Cutter Crafts

What You Need:

• An assortment of cookie cutters
• Colored pencils
• Play dough
• Ribbon or string
• Tape or glue
• Sliced cheese
• Melon
• Peanut butter
• Jelly or jam
• Bread of your choice
• Cream cheese
• Refrigerated cookie dough
• Icing
• Sprinkles

What You Do:

Activity #1: Stencils

1. Lend some colored pencils to your young artist, and use the cookie cutters as guides for drawing animals or other crazy shapes. Have your child use these shapes to make fun landscapes and drawings.
2. You can even use themed stencils to make pictures for personalized holiday, gift, and greeting cards!

Activity #2: Play-Doh Necklaces

1. Roll out some play-doh, and use the cookie cutters to make fun shapes like hearts or stars.
2. Punch a small hole near the top of the shape and string a ribbon through it to make your child her very own pendant or necklace.

Activity #3: Holiday Ornaments

1. Use candy cane, Easter bunny, or other holiday cutters to trace lines on felt or paper.
2. String several of them together side to side by taping or gluing them onto yarn or gift-wrapping ribbon. Put these ornaments up as lively art to decorate your house or distribute them as gifts.

Activity #4: Party Cheese

1. Use train- or car-shaped cutters to turn sliced cheese into a presentable and quick party treat.

Activity #5: Egg in the Dinosaur

1. Make breakfast a pleasant surprise with Egg in the Dinosaur! Just like Egg in the Hole, use a dinosaur-shaped cookie cutter (or your child's favorite shape) to make a hole in the bread and mold the humble egg into a fun shape.

Activity #6: Melon People

1. Make some sweet snacks! Use small gingerbread-boy or girl cutters to shape thin slices of watermelon or cantaloupe to serve for a breakfast party or brunch.

Activity #7: Elephant Sandwiches

1. Turn a few PB-and-Js or cream-cheese-and-jelly sandwiches into rows of elephants on a plate for a casual birthday lunch.

Activity #8: All-State Cookies

1. Make or buy sugar-cookie or gingerbread dough, roll it out, and cookie-cut the dough into the shape of your state. With some icing and sprinkles from the grocery store, your child and her friends can make edible maps. It’s a great party game, and can teach your child some delicious geography while she's at it!