Berry Picking With Kids: Recipe and Craft Ideas

Turn a fruit-picking errand into hours of family fun with these simple crafts and easy recipes.

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Tara Donne

A Day at The Farm

Take your family berry-picking this summer. Berry season peaks in June and July for most of the country. You may get lucky and find three or more kinds of berries on the same day!

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Tara Donne

Three-Berry Focaccia

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Bring it to a summer cookout! It looks impressive, but requires only five ingredients and 30 minutes.

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Tara Donne

Blueberry Scones

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A healthy scone? Yes, it's possible! Our version has half the fat of typical treats—plus whole grains to boot.

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Tara Donne

Shortcut Napoleons

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Of all the berries, raspberries pack the most fiber.

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Tara Donne

Fruity Cupcakes

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Top your treats with our from-scratch blackberry icing. Unlike many store-bought frostings, it contains no unhealthy trans fats.

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Tara Donne

Raspberry Limeade

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The next time your kid is craving fruit punch or lemonade, give him this thirst quencher that has less than half of the calories.

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child holding basket of berries — Tara Donne

Tara Donne

Sweet Tote

What You'll Need

1/2-gal. paper milk carton, adhesive-backed paper, hot-glue gun and glue, 30-in. piece of 1" jute ribbon, scissors

Make It

1. Cut the top off a 1/2-gal. milk carton. Cover in patterned Con-Tact paper.

2. Hot glue both ends of a 30-in. piece of jute ribbon to each side to create a handle.

3. Finish the top edge with another piece of ribbon trimmed to fit your carton.

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Tara Donne

Bright Baskets

What You'll Need

Pint-size wooden berry basket, watercolor paints, foam brush, paper towel

Make It

1. Flip the basket upside down and place on a paper towel or newspaper.

2. Dilute watercolor paint with water and generously brush a stripe onto the basket, just above the rim.

3. In a contrasting color, paint a second stripe about 1/2 inch above the first. Allow both watercolors to drip.

4. Let dry.

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Tara Donne

Berry Pretty Necklace

What You'll Need

Colored pencils, a quarter, Shrinky Dinks paper, scissors, hole punch, green felt, pliers, jump rings, green ribbon

Make It

1. Trace a quarter onto Shrinky Dinks to create berries. For the blueberry, just fill in circle with blue pencils. For the raspberry, make about 20 small circles within the quarter. Cut out. Punch a hole in top edge.

2. Bake according to package instructions.

3. Cut small leaves from green felt. Punch hole in one corner of leaf.

4. Use pliers to attach the plastic berries and leaves to jump rings.

5. String onto green ribbon.

By Recipes by Erica Clark, Crafts by Amanda Kingloff