Make Edible Dirt Cups
Our world is filled with plants and animals that live and burrow in dirt and soil. Get your hands dirty as you learn about the different types of soil and make an edible “dirt” cup.
Materials
Directions
Soil has multiple layers, and in this activity each edible ingredient will correspond to a different layer of soil: subsoil, topsoil, and organic humus.
To get started, scoop a layer of chocolate pudding into the bottom of a clear plastic cup. This represents the subsoil.
Place the chocolate cookies in a bag. Let your child mash them into crumbles. Tip: a rolling pin is useful for this! Repeat with the graham crackers.
Add a layer of graham cracker crumbles on top of the pudding. This represents the topsoil.
Add a final layer of chocolate cookie crumbles on top of the graham cracker crumbles. This represents the humus.
For added texture, place some coconut shreds in a plastic zip bag and add a few drops of green food coloring. Shake the bag. Allow the colored shreds to dry on some paper towels and then layer them on the top of the dirt cup to look like grass. You can also add gummy worms!
Examine the “dirt” cup from the side and talk about the different layers. Explain that the soil outside, all over the world, has layers, too.
Eat up!
Explore Further
Go outside and get your hands dirty in the soil. Talk about how it feels. Is it it wet or dry? Was it hard and clumpy like clay or gritty like sand? Can you find any critters, rocks, or leaves in your patch of dirt? Can you dig down to a different layer of soil?
Math
Science