Celebrate National LEGO Day and National Puzzle Day in the Kitchen!

By Kelly Furr, NIU STEAM Educator

January 28 is National LEGO Day.  These iconic bricks are fun to play with and you can build anything with them! Since I’m an educator who focuses on using food to teach STEAM concepts, I thought I’d share with you some of the fun ways LEGO and food come together. And don’t forget to keep reading below to find out how to celebrate National Puzzle Day with puzzle cookies.

LEGO Candy Fun

A fun idea is to create a candy machine dispenser with your bricks, or you can make your own gummy LEGO set.

Instructions to create your own candy dispenser can be found at FrugalFun4Boys or Instructables.

You can also make your own gummy candy and put them in a LEGO mold to create gummy LEGO bricks or figures. (I know this might sound complicated, but I tried it at home, and it really worked!)

You need the following ingredients to create your own gummies:

• ½ cup water
• 1 package of flavored gelatin (Jell-O) (3 oz package)
• 2 packets of unflavored gelatin such as Knox
• ¼ cup light corn syrup

Equipment:

• Liquid measuring cup
• Glass jar or bowl to mix
• Pot
• Stove or electric burner
• Spatula
• Squeeze bottle
• LEGO mold (available to purchase online)
• Refrigerator

Directions

1. Start by measuring the water using a liquid measuring cup and pour into your mixing jar or bowl. 
2. Add both the unflavored gelatin and the flavored gelatin and stir.  Be sure to fully mix the gelatin with the water until you have a smooth texture without any clumps or lumps. 
3. Mix in ¼ cup of corn syrup. 
4. Once combined, heat on medium-low heat until the mixture is clear (about 2-4 minutes), and everything is dissolved. 
5. After the mixture has been dissolved, allow to cool slightly.  
6. Pour the mixture into a squirt bottle.  This will help you pour the liquid into the LEGO molds with less mess. 
7. Let sit in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours to settle. 
8. Build, play and enjoy your bricks! 

Puzzling Cookies

January 29 is National Puzzle Day. Have you ever tried to make a puzzle with food? Using sugar cookies, you and the young people in your life can create your own cookie puzzle to celebrate.  Make sugar cookies from scratch or used premade sugar cookies available at the grocery store. 

To make the puzzle cookies:

1. Roll out sugar-cookie dough to ¼ inch thick on parchment paper with flour. 
2. Slide onto a baking sheet and bake until golden in a 350-degree oven (about 12 minutes). 
3. Remove from the oven and while the cookie is still warm, create your puzzle pattern with a knife. 
4. Allow to cool completely before separating the pieces. 
5. Decorate your puzzle pieces with frosting or sprinkles – create your own art masterpiece puzzle and celebrate National Puzzle Day in a fun, unique way!

We hope you’ll take a photo and share your creations! Tag NIU STEAM on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram so we can see how your projects turned out.