TikTok video shows how to make ‘edible sand’ from blended breakfast cereal

In normal times, playing with your food isn’t always encouraged. Fortunately for fun-loving diners, these are not normal times. By this point, we’re all so bored of the same four walls that turning a polpette into a ping pong ball seems like a very reasonable way to pass the time. As it turns out, however, there are other, much less messy ways to entertain yourself over a meal. 

All across social media, innovative parents are taking playtime to the tasty next level. Instead of pleading with miserable children to stop flinging food at each other, these cunning carers have decided to embrace the fact that there are no longer any rules around the dinner table by blending breakfast cereal into edible “sand”. The results are a spectacularly delicious distraction. 

Watch As Woman Almost Chokes Doing The Cereal And Milk Challenge:

Although the idea of “sensory play” has been around for some time, it has really come into its own as we try to deal with lockdown. Clips of different techniques have proved incredibly popular across social media, with TikTok becoming a major hub. 

One video, shared by user @elleannachristine, features blitzed Cheerios breakfast cereal being used to create an edible sandpit for a baby, with predictably adorable results. The clip has been viewed over 2.6 million times since it was first posted, prompting an outpouring of positive responses. 

Several users pointed out the ingenuity of the idea, with one commenting “Yess!! So if she accidentally eats the sand it’s ok bc it’s freaking Cheerios,” and another adding, “No one said you were allowed to be this smart”.

A third pointed out just how popular the trend has become, writing “this has been shared in like every mom group ever now and I’m so glad to see the original so I can tell you what a freaking genius you are”.

It might have been an unusually sombre start to the summer, but it’s worth remembering that there are still some awesome ways to have fun with your food.