We have done pancake art with teenagers, college students and adults and it’s never failed to put a smile on someone’s face. Last time adults joined in, the comment was: “Man I’m going to feel like a failure parent for making basic pancakes from now on.” 😅 Now, let’s not be about that guilt trip life, but here’s an activity to just spice things up with breakfast or have an entertaining evening when it’s rainy or cold outside.
What is pancake art?
Pancake art is using pancake mix to create many different designs and creations on a griddle, frying pan, or other hot, flat surface. You can use food coloring or simply keep the mix as is and cook on the hot surface for longer or shorter times to create shading or darker parts of the image.
How to create pancake art?
Items Needed:
- Pancake mix (remember gluten free options if your group needs) – Anywhere from $5.00-$20.00 depending on how much you are buying
- Food coloring – $4.00-ish
- Quart sized baggies or sandwich baggies, or condiment bottles – $5.00-$10.00
- Cooking Spray – $2.00
- Paper plates, syrup, chocolate chips (optional) & whipped cream (optional)
- Griddle, crepe maker, or simply just some frying pans on the oven
Estimated Cost for Pancake Art: $30.00-$40.00
The best part about this activity is that you can include a TON of people at once, plus you can get a meal/dessert out of it. You could easily to 10 people for $12.00. Split it among the group and it’s $2.00 a person. Make it a potluck and have some bring fruit, savory sides (bacon, hashbrowns, eggs), hot chocolate… breakfast for dinner is always a winner. 😉
Pro-Tips:
- At 4 griddles plugged into our island we tripped the breaker. Spread griddles/crepe makers, etc. across multiple areas to avoid that issue
- For groups with gluten free members, make sure to dedicate a specific griddle, pancake flipper and labeled or colored bags to keep things separate
- Starting with an outline that works as a “barrier” is sometimes best! Outline and then fill in the middle for whatever you are creating.
- Whenever writing words, you have to write them “mirrored” – backwards and flipped. That takes some concentration 🤯
- Mix food coloring with batter in the different bags, rather than a new bowl for each color. Eliminates tons of dishes and you can just make a new bag when you run out of color
- As you are whipping up the batter, some suggest adding extra water to make it a bit runnier than normal. It makes it a bit easier to maneuver around the griddle, but also sometimes makes it cook much faster – so be careful that it’s not too runny
- Start the cooking surfaces all on low until you have got the hang of it. As your groups become more confident, you can turn it up so they cook faster
Pancake Art Ideas
Pre-Teen/Early Teens were super content to mix colors and make all the funny designs the could come up with. We saw everything from bacon, donuts, many fruit variations (like cherries, watermelon and pineapples) to the whole cast of Cinderella – including a glass slipper and pumpkins that would turn into the carriage. They loved using chocolate chips for eyes when it was a person they created, and whipped cream for hair and other decorations like clouds at the end of a rainbow. Other favorites included
Pancake Art Challenge
Who Can “Make the Best” Challenge:
Older Teenagers and college students seemed to have the most fun when competing – who can make the best gorilla, tiger, or college mascot? Who can actually write their name legibly? (Harder than you think!) Who can guess what my creation is?
A group favorite – have a person pick an emoji, and then have everyone try to recreate the emoji at the same time. Give a few rounds of warm up, and then have 3 rounds of emoji challenges. At the end, you can have the group vote on the best, take a picture, and award a golden pancake flipper. Have an annual pancake art challenge where the golden flipper is brought back to be sought after again year after year. We had friends that annually challenged each other over a golden plunger that was associated with ping pong (we don’t see the relation there as much, but still was a much coveted bragging rights item).
We have seen similar challenges with common cartoon characters like Mario pancakes, Despicable Me Minion pancakes, or more detailed like Marvel comic book character pancakes. Take it to the next level and create 3D challenges like a waterfall pancake scene, the Golden Gate Bridge, or even a whole taco dinner made out of pancakes.
No Food Coloring Challenge:
You can add a bit more technicality with “shading” as the longer you keep the pancake mix on the griddle, the more shading and darker colors occur. Layering with longer time on the griddle vs. shorter time on the griddle can create some super interesting artwork and really doesn’t even require purchasing food coloring. See the photo below for an example of this legit challenge.
Pancake Art will be an exciting activity for all groups and ages. Just make sure to have plenty of pancake batter whipped up, get the groups inspired with some incredible examples, and send them on their way to compete or just unleash their creative juices. By the end they will be the coolest friend, person, or parent who is making national news for becoming a viral sensation with their pancake art. (Props to this dad!)
Funception 