We inherited a pretty rad play kitchen from a cousin, whose kids are now teenagers. My daughter loves "cooking" in this play kitchen. But we've never actually made play food before. We scored a ton of pretend food, along with the kitchen. I saw this craft as an awesome opportunity to make something that actually has use value moving forward. And, as a material, felt is pretty darn durable. So, I know these felt hot dogs will last!
To go along with our delicious Crescent Roll Hot Dogs with Homemade Ranch Dipping Sauce, we decided to make three different kinds of play hot dogs. We used felt squares for this craft, but you can really use anything that will hold glue (paper, paper bags, popsicle sticks, tissue paper, etc). We don't usually go out of our way to buy supplies for our crafts, but in this case we knew the felt would last longer. Plus, we could make even more play food with the leftovers.
The trickiest part of this craft is outlining and cutting the felt. Felt is easy to cut if your scissors are sharp enough, but cutting narrow pieces (like the ketchup and mustard strips) can be dexterously challenging. Grown-ups or older siblings might need to help trace and/or cut out the shapes of the bun, hot dog and toppings. So, this craft might involve a bit more adult involvement than others. BUT the craft takes no time at all...and kids can definitely do all the assembling and gluing!
This craft also provides a great opportunity to share some fun facts about this meal's featured ingredient:
🍴HOT DOGS🍴
- Hot dogs are actually cooked sausages made from meat, like chicken, pork, beef or turkey.
- Originally called frankfurters, it is believed that hot dogs originated in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany.
- The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council predicts that Americans consume 20 billion hot dogs a year.
- Hot dogs are commonly eaten at ball games, picnics or family celebrations.
- Hot dogs are made of processed meat which can increase your risk of developing serious diseases. Luckily there are healthier options, like low- sodium or vegetarian hot dogs and organic or nitrate-free versions.
💡Overview💡
Featured Ingredient: Hot Dogs
Corresponding Recipe: Crescent Roll Hot Dogs with Homemade Ranch Dipping Sauce
Skills supported: Fine motor (tracing, cutting, gluing), math (composing shapes), following instructions
✂ supplies ✂
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📝instructions📝
Consider setting up the craft before cooking so kids can get to work right away.
1. *On a brown piece of felt, outline an open hot dog bun (similar to rounded butterfly wings). Cut along the lines to form your bun.
2. On the dark red piece of felt, outline a hot dog (see photo below). *Cut along the lines to form your hot dog.
3. Glue the hot dog to its bun.
4. Using your other colored felt, create your toppings! *You can cut out small green circles for pickles, snakelike strips of red and yellow for your ketchup and mustard, or a big green blob for lettuce. Lol. Glue toppings onto the felt hot dog and you've got some fun play food!
Note: *For toddlers especially, these tasks may require adult supervision and/or assistance.
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