Kick Off Summer Reading With Edible ‘Bookworms!’

Earlier this month, I agreed to make a special reading-themed snack for Punky’s class on the day they took the reading portion of their standardized tests. At a complete loss, I turned to Pinterest– and found these adorable bookworms.

They took some time to put them together, but the end result was fabulous–

–and they’d make a great summer activity to do with your kids, particularly if you’re signing them up for your library’s summer reading program or hosting a kids’ book club group.

Check out Spoonful’s directions on how to make them– I modified the idea to make it a little easier, so I’m also including how I did it below.

INGREDIENTS

-6 cups crispy rice cereal
-One bag of marshmallows
-One box of fruit leather
-One stick of butter, divided
-Googly eyes
-Pipe cleaners
-Plastic Wrap
-Hot glue gun

DIRECTIONS

-Start by refrigerating your fruit leather for a few minutes, so that you can easily peel it from the plastic. I learned this lesson the hard way!

-Melt 3 Tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Add crispy rice cereal and stir until completely blended. Let cool for a few minutes, until cool enough to touch.

-Use remaining butter to keep your hands greased during the next step. It will make the crispy rice mixture MUCH easier to handle. Form crispy rice into four-inch ‘worms’ by rolling it between your hands. Set aside on a tray or baking sheet. (The Spoonful worms appear to be much smaller, but since mine were for older kids, I tried to make my worms using roughly the same amount they’d get in a regular Rice Krispy treat. Use your judgement here.)

-Use kitchen shears to cut fruit leather into strips. Wrap two strips around each ‘worm’s’ midsection.

-Wrap each worm in just enough plastic wrap to cover.

-Attach googly eyes to the front of each ‘worm’ with a tiny amount of hot glue on the back of the eye.

-Twist pipe cleaner around the head of the ‘worm’ to create antennae.

Smile and feel crafty and smug as your children and their friends freak out over the awesomeness of these bookworms!