30 Easy Cake Decorating Ideas for Kids
There’s nothing quite like the magic of cake decorating to bring smiles and joy to children’s faces.
Whether you’re planning a birthday party, a family gathering, or just a fun weekend activity, cake decorating offers a fantastic way for kids to express their creativity and enjoy some hands-on fun. Plus, it’s a great opportunity for parents and children to bond over a shared activity that ends with a delicious reward.
In this blog post, we’ve gathered 30 easy and delightful cake decorating ideas that are perfect for kids of all ages. From simple techniques that even the youngest bakers can handle to slightly more detailed designs for older children, there’s something here to spark every child’s imagination.
So, roll up your sleeves, grab your frosting and sprinkles, and get ready to embark on a sweet adventure of decorating delight!
Candy Overload Cake
Let kids go wild with their favorite candies. Provide bowls of gummy bears, M&Ms, jelly beans, and chocolate chips. Frost the cake with a base layer of buttercream or whipped cream and let kids press candies all over the top and sides of the cake for a colorful, fun, and tasty creation.
Rainbow Sprinkle Explosion
Cover the cake with a generous layer of frosting. Pour a variety of sprinkles into small bowls and let kids sprinkle them over the cake, creating a vibrant, rainbow effect. For added fun, they can use cookie cutters as stencils to create sprinkle shapes.
Animal Face Cupcakes
Bake a batch of cupcakes and let the kids decorate each one as a different animal. Provide colored frosting, candy eyes, licorice whiskers, and marshmallow ears. Simple designs like cats, dogs, or bears are easy to make and look adorable.
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Fruit Fiesta Cake
Frost the cake with a light layer of whipped cream or cream cheese frosting. Provide an assortment of sliced fruits like strawberries, kiwis, blueberries, and grapes. Let kids arrange the fruit slices on top of the cake to create beautiful, healthy designs.
Cookie Cutter Shapes
Frost the cake and give the kids cookie cutters in fun shapes. Fill the cookie cutters with sprinkles, mini candies, or colored sugar. Press the cutters into the frosting gently and remove them to reveal fun shapes on the cake.
Marshmallow Monsters
Provide kids with large and mini marshmallows, toothpicks, and food coloring pens. Let them create little monster faces by drawing eyes, mouths, and other features on the marshmallows. Place the marshmallow monsters on top of the cake for a whimsical look.
Edible Paint Cake
Mix food coloring with a little bit of clear vanilla extract or lemon juice to create edible paints. Give kids small brushes and let them paint designs on a white fondant-covered cake. This allows for endless creativity and personalization.
Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
Dip strawberries in melted chocolate and allow them to set. Kids can then use these chocolate-covered strawberries to decorate the top of a frosted cake, creating a tasty and visually appealing design.
Gummy Worm Garden Cake
Frost the cake with green-tinted frosting to resemble grass. Let kids place gummy worms on the cake as if they are crawling through a garden. You can also provide small candy flowers and other garden-themed decorations to enhance the look.
Personalized Name Cake
Frost the cake and provide the kids with letter-shaped candies, or alphabet cookie cutters with fondant. Let them spell out their names or fun messages on the cake. This is a great way to make the cake feel special and personalized. These easy and fun cake decorating ideas will not only make the cakes look amazing but also ensure a memorable and enjoyable experience for kids of all ages. Happy decorating!
Emoji Cupcakes
Bake a batch of cupcakes and frost them with a smooth layer of yellow icing. Provide kids with small candies, chocolate chips, and icing pens to create different emoji faces. They can make smiling, winking, or silly face emojis for a fun and trendy decorating activity.
Butterfly Cake
Frost the cake with a bright, colorful icing. Use halved cupcakes or cookies to create the butterfly wings. Kids can decorate the wings with various candies, sprinkles, and colored frosting to make vibrant and unique butterfly designs.
Ice Cream Cone Cake
Use ice cream cones as decorations by placing them upside down on the cake to resemble a castle or towers. Frost the cones and cake to match, and let kids add sprinkles, candies, and edible glitter for a whimsical, fairy-tale look.
Under the Sea Cake
Frost the cake with blue icing to represent water. Provide fish-shaped gummies, candy seashells, and edible pearls. Kids can place these decorations on the cake to create an underwater scene with various sea creatures.
Cereal Confetti Cake
Cover the cake with a thick layer of frosting. Provide bowls of colorful cereals like Fruit Loops or Fruity Pebbles. Let kids press the cereal onto the frosting to create a bright and cheerful confetti effect.
Nature Scene Cake
Use green-tinted frosting to cover the cake, creating a grassy effect. Provide various candy and cookie shapes to create trees, flowers, and animals. Kids can design a park or forest scene with these edible elements.
Popcorn Cake
Frost the cake and then cover it with popcorn for a fun and unique texture. Drizzle melted chocolate or caramel over the popcorn for added flavor and decoration. This idea is great for a movie-themed party.
Pinwheel Cake
Create pinwheels from colored paper and attach them to toothpicks. Let kids stick the pinwheels into the frosted cake, adding a playful and colorful decoration that spins when blown on.
Superhero Cake
Frost the cake with the base color of the chosen superhero’s costume. Provide edible images or printed wafer paper of superhero logos and symbols. Kids can place these on the cake, along with colored candies and sprinkles to match the theme.
Puzzle Piece Cake
Frost the cake with a smooth layer of icing. Use a cookie cutter to create puzzle piece shapes from fondant or modeling chocolate. Kids can paint or decorate the puzzle pieces with edible colors and place them on the cake, fitting them together to create a fun, interactive design. These additional decorating ideas offer even more ways for kids to get creative and have fun with their cakes. From nature-inspired scenes to themed designs, there’s something to delight every young baker.
Dinosaur Cake
Frost the cake with green or brown icing to resemble a prehistoric landscape. Provide plastic or edible dinosaur figurines, candy rocks, and chocolate “dirt” made from crushed cookies. Let kids create their own dino scenes on the cake.
Lego Cake
Cover the cake with a base layer of bright-colored frosting. Use large, rectangular marshmallows as the building blocks, frosting them in various colors to resemble Lego bricks. Kids can arrange these marshmallows on the cake to build their own structures.
Balloon Cake
Frost the cake and then use small, round candies like M&Ms or Skittles to create balloon shapes. Attach strings made of licorice or thin icing lines to complete the balloon look. Kids can place the balloons in clusters or individually across the cake.
Safari Animal Cake
Use animal-shaped cookies or edible images to decorate a cake frosted with a neutral color. Add in green frosting for grass and candy rocks for a safari landscape. Kids can position the animals to create their own safari adventure.
Sports Theme Cake
Frost the cake in the colors of a favorite sports team. Provide small, edible sports equipment decorations like mini footballs, soccer balls, or baseballs. Kids can place these around the cake and use icing to add team logos or other details.
Flower Power Cake
Cover the cake with a base layer of frosting. Provide kids with different colors of icing, piping bags, and flower-shaped tips. They can pipe simple flowers like daisies and tulips all over the cake for a blooming masterpiece.
Space Adventure Cake
Frost the cake with dark blue or black icing to resemble the night sky. Provide star-shaped sprinkles, edible glitter, and astronaut or spaceship figurines. Kids can create a space scene complete with stars and planets.
Monster Cake
Use brightly colored frosting and let kids create monster faces on the cake. Provide candy eyes, licorice for mouths, and marshmallows for teeth. Kids can make silly, scary, or friendly monster faces.
Farmyard Cake
Frost the cake with green icing for grass. Use animal crackers or small plastic farm animals to decorate. Add a fence made of pretzel sticks and create a pond with blue gel icing. Kids can place the animals and other elements to build a farm scene.
Race Car Cake
Frost the cake with a checkered flag design or a simple road made of black icing. Provide small, plastic race cars or car-shaped candies. Kids can arrange the cars on the cake and use icing to create race tracks and finish lines. These additional cake decorating ideas provide even more opportunities for kids to explore their creativity and have fun. From adventurous space themes to charming farmyards, these decorations are sure to inspire and delight young bakers.