Food can be used in crafts and for play. Raid your refrigerator and let the fun begin!

Your own parents may have told you not to play with your food, but times have changed and so have parents.

We now know that food can be fun and crafty, licking your fingers is encouraged, and one of your best sources for craft and play items may be your kitchen pantry.

Playing with food in the cozy kitchen is the perfect rainy day activity for little ones.

Here are eight ways you and your children can have fun with food.

Crumb Tables

If your children like to play in the sandbox in the back yard or the sand table at preschool, you can recreate one inside your house using an edible alternative. Pour rice, orzo, cornmeal, bread crumbs or graham cracker crumbs onto a table with sides or into a shallow plastic container. Throw in some clean sandbox toys, toy cars, measuring cups, scoops, funnels and other kitchen utensils, and let your kids loose.

Finger Painting with Pudding

Make several batches of vanilla instant pudding, divide it into smaller containers and add different food coloring to each container. Give your child some big paper and let him create a pudding finger-painting.

(Note: As beautiful as your child’s painting may be, don’t leave it hanging on the frig or bulletin board too long; the pudding paint will begin to sour after a few days.)

Playing with Dough

When baking, make an extra batch of dough just for playing. Give the kids a ball of pie crust or cookie dough and let them mold it, roll it with a rolling pin, and cut it with a plastic knife and cookie cutters.

Mashed Potato Sculptures

Cold mashed potatoes make a great sculpture material. Give a bowl of leftover mashed potatoes to your child and let him mold it into a creative sculpture. Making sculptures out of food is good for fine motor skills and little ones love the tactile activity.

Make a Food Face

Give your child a bowl of cold mashed potatoes, black olives, julienne strips of red papers, cherry tomatoes, crackers, macaroni in different shapes, and whatever else you can find in your frig and pantry and tell him to make a 3-D face using all edible items. (Hint: Cooked fusilli is the perfect hair!)

Cookie Cutter Creations

Cookie cutters aren’t just for cookies. Give your child some bread and cookie cutters and let him stamp out different shapes. Use a gingerbread boy cookie cutter to make “bread boys” and decorate them.

Build a Gingerbread House

You don’t have to wait for Christmas to make a gingerbread house. Use graham crackers, vanilla frosting and as much colorful candy as you can find to build your gingerbread house. For a solid foundation use a cardboard box that’s been cut and shaped into a house-and-roof shape.

For a thatched roof use frosted mini-wheats, for a snowman stack marshmallows, for bushes and shrubs use gumdrops, and let your children’s imaginations go wild.

Edible Origami

Wonton wrappers are much like thick paper. They can be folded and manipulated without sticking together or losing their shape. Let your kids fold the square wonton wrappers into fun shapes or origami designs, deep fry them and serve them as croutons on a salad.