Playing with Food – an activity book

I do love a book that gets the kids excited and Playing With Food, illustrated beautifully by Louise Lockhart (Cicada, RRP £12.95) does just that. It’s an inspiring, fun, activity book which my two have adored working through. Favourite pages include the 5-a-day diary – I found Lola in the fridge munching on strawberries to hit the target, which in itself is nothing short of a miracle – and she loved designing jellies. There’s a wide variety of activities, from creating a menu for a cafe, to colouring in Campbell’s soup tins – we looked at some Andy Warhol to get inspired – to decorating a dream birthday cake. A real delight of a book, visually it’s stunning. Louise’s work is colourful, jolly and playful as well as being unusual. Seem familiar? She’s been commissioned by the likes of Mini Boden and Donna Wilson in the past.  I am adding this one to the gifting list – I can’t imagine any child who wouldn’t be thrilled to get stuck in, and it covers a real range of ages. My two year old has been having a scribble, while the six-year-old is much more serious about what she’s doing…