Quick and Easy Krispy Treat Cell Model (5 Easy Steps!)
Learn the parts of a cell with this quick and easy krispy treat cell model that’s as tasty as it is colorful and educational.
Y’all know we love our hands-on learning activities around here – especially the ones you can eat when you’re finished! We’ve got another fun, colorful, and tasty project that you’re going to love. Plus, you can complete this krispy treat cell model, start to finish, in under an hour so it’s great if you’re in a hurry – or, you know – forgot about it until the last minute.
Easy Krispy Treat Cell Model
Introducing another in our line of edible cell model projects – a krispy treat cell model! You’ve probably made krispy treats before so you know that the base is just three simple ingredients. Add your choice of candy toppings to represent the organelles and you’re good to go!
Because you can use whatever you like to represent the organelles (though we did try to choose those that were the general shape from our labeled cell diagram), it’s a great way to use up leftover candy from the last candy-overload holiday, whether that’s Easter, Halloween, Christmas, or your most recent trip to grandma’s house.
So, if you’re ready, let’s get started!
What You Need
As I said, there are only three basic ingredients for the krispy treats:
- Rice Krispies™ (or similar) cereal
- 10 oz bag of marshmallows
- 3 tbsp butter
You can let your imagination run wild for the organelles, making use of what you have on hand, but we used the following:
- Cell wall = Fruit by the Foot
- Cell membrane = Krispy treats
- Nucleus = Reese’s cup
- Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum = Twizzlers (separated into strands)
- Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum = Air Head Xtreme
- Ribosomes = M&M Minis
- Mitochondria = Kit Kat
- Golgi Apparatus = Fruit by the Foot
- Vacuoloe = Gummy Bears
- Lysosome = Whoppers
What You’ll Do
Preparing and assembling the cell model is so easy!
Step 1
First, prepare your krispy treats. In case you need a refresher, you just melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the marshmallows and stir until they’re melted. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in your krispy cereal.
Step 2
We used a round glass pie pan, but you can use a rectangular dish if you’re making a plant cell instead of an animal cell. Spray your container lightly with cooking spray and spread the mixture into it. We used parchment paper to spread it and press it down evenly.
Note: We did not use all of the krispy treat mixture. I just put the excess in a separate dish for everyone to snack on while we finished the project.
Step 3
This step is probably optional but we turned the rounded krispy treat out onto a cutting board to make it easier to add the cell wall. We unrolled two packages of Fruit by the Foot to wrap around the outside of our cell model, pressing it into the krispy treat base and reshaping as needed.
Step 4
Add the organelles. The krispy treat was soft enough that we were able to press the Reese’s cup into it a bit in the center.
I cut the Whoppers candies in half to better match the lysosomes pictured in our labeled cell diagram.
We chose a different color of Fruit by the Foot from that of the cell wall and shaped it into the ribbon-like appearance of the Golgi apparatus. We did need to use toothpicks to hold it in that shape.
We shaped the Air Head Xtreme and unwound Twizzlers similarly to represent the rough and smooth endoplasmic reticulum.
Step 5
Add toothpick flag labels. We just used adhesive address labels and toothpicks to make the flags. We wrote the organelle names with a Sharpie on the label and wrapped it around the toothpick. I did think afterward that next time I might use my label maker so that we could achieve a smaller font.
That’s it! Probably the quickest, easiest cell model we’ve ever done and I love the way it turned out!
Cell Learning Activities for Younger Kids
Your older kids can obviously do this one on their own, but if you’d like to try making this krispy treat cell model with younger kids, check out these extension activities!
- 3D Plant Cell Diorama
- Plant Cells Printable Pack
- Animal Cells Printable Pack
- Animal Cells Interactive Notebook
And, honestly, even your teens might appreciate the labeled and unlabeled cell diagrams for review.