The Mystery of the "Maple Syrup on Pancakes" Preschool Craft

Not long ago, I became aware of an unsolved mystery in the world of preschool crafts. It involves a pancake craft. This project looks great for preschoolers. Glue some brown circles to a paper plate, add a small square of yellow for the butter, and drizzle on the faux maple syrup. Cute, easy, and fun!

The mystery is what was used to make the maple syrup. There are no instructions of how to make it or what materials to use. Since I've had maple on my mind ever since our visit to the maple museum and maple farm in Vermont, I put on my detective hat, grabbed my magnifying glass, and took a closer look at the original image to see what clues I could find. (Affiliate links here and throughout the post.)

I decided that the pancakes and butter were made from craft foam. The paper plate was, obviously, a paper plate. But then there's the syrup. Surely it's not real maple syrup? Not only would that be a waste of food, it wouldn't dry and would be covered in ants within the hour. That can't be what it is. 

It was time for an experiment, so I removed my detective hat and put on my lab coat. I hoped one of the dimensional adhesives I had on hand might be the maple syrup substitute.

However, after putting a dot of each onto white paper, yellow craft foam, and brown craft foam, I learned that none of them were the answer to the mystery. Just to be certain, I used a pipette to add drops of real maple syrup (two different grades) onto more paper and foam for comparison. None of the adhesives matched the amber color of the syrups. The closest is the Mod Podge.

 

I had one more idea: Gorilla Glue. I ran my test and it was successful! Gorilla Glue looked just like what was used in the photo and was a perfect match for the darker of the two real maple syrups! I drizzled a generous amount onto the faux pancakes I'd prepared and snapped a quick photo. 

It was so satisfying to have solved the mystery. 

But wait! There's a twist... and you won't like it. Because THIS is what the craft looks like after the Gorilla Glue dries. 

As you can see, the Gorilla Glue puffed up significantly and lightened in color. What a disappointment. 

The mystery remains. Did the original crafter use Gorilla Glue and only shared a photo when it was wet? Or was a different product used? Perhaps we'll never know. 

If you make this craft, use Mod Podge Dimensional Magic. It won't look quite as good as the Gorilla Glue while it's wet, but it will look much better after it's dried. If you have another adhesive idea and want me to check it out, let me know in the comments. 

Koala Pancakes

I am in awe of the amazingly talented people who create works of art in pancake form. I'm not sure who was first to popularize the technique of using pancake batter on a hot griddle to draw portraits and other intricate designs, but the first I came across was Nathan Shields. His designs are absolutely amazing. I'm blown away by how he achieves such detailed designs by carefully adding lines of batter at just the right time for them to create the dark and light parts of the portrait.   

My brain does not work like that. This koala is my ability level when it comes to creativity with pancakes.

 

To make your own, make a large round pancake for the face, two smaller round pancakes for the ears, and an oval pancake for the nose. Spread Nutella on the nose, the use dots of Nutella to attach candy eyeballs in place. Add a dollop of whipped cream to the inside of each ear right before serving. 

I wanted to give my koala a mouth, but the only food I had on hand that was shaped like a small smile was a black olive. I don't particularly like olives in places where they belong, so I'm certainly not adding them to pancakes with Nutella and whipped cream. I tried using a toothpick to draw a Nutella mouth, but it needed to be darker to stand out against the pancake. I suppose I could have cut a mouth from an extra pancake, or made a tiny mouth-shaped pancake from the beginning. I'm open to other suggestions!