Cute If You Give a Cat a Cupcake Activity Ideas
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Who else is a Laura Numeroff fan? My kids always loved her books when they were little. These cute If You Give a Cat a Cupcake activity ideas are the perfect way to extend the fun of the book.
In this book, a cute little cat runs from one activity to the next until he eventually comes full circle and back to the original activity. The story begins with a little girl giving a cat a cupcake. Then he wants to add sprinkles, which spill and make a mess. He ends up wearing a bathing suit and going on a variety of outings.
I think little kids love this book because they identify with the cat. I certainly identify with the little girl who is trying to manage all of this chaos.
Read the book and then give these If You Give a Cat a Cupcake activity ideas a try.
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Last update on 2026-09-16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
If You Give a Cat a Cupcake Activity Ideas
Bake and Decorate Cupcakes
Baking and decorating cupcakes feel like a perfect If You Give a Cat a Cupcake activity. Kids love spending time in the kitchen and it can be a great way to reinforce academic skills. Measuring ingredients is great real-life math practice. Reading and following the directions on a box of cake mix or in a cookbook is an excellent way to practice reading comprehension.
If your kids really want to decorate cupcakes, but you don’t want to bake, stop by the bakery section of your local grocery store. Buy the plainest cupcakes you can find. Then your kids can add their own decorative touches with sprinkles.
Create a Cat in Bathing Suit Puppet
The adventurous cat is the star of the book, so this If You Give a Cat a Cupcake activity is all about our main character.
Paper bag puppets are my favorite kind of puppet to make. They are so easy! This paper bag cat puppet guide has the full directions and a printable template.
Let’s go one step beyond an ordinary cat puppet and give this little guy a bathing suit, just like our main character. Kids can either color a bathing suit directly on the puppet or cut out a bathing suit from a variety of materials and glue it on top of the cat puppet.
Possible bathing suit options include:
- Scrap fabric
- Leftover wall paper
- Gift wrap
- Construction paper
Have a Pretend Beach Day
Since the cat is wearing a bathing suit, it only makes sense for him to visit the beach. Going to the beach takes quite a bit of planning unless you happen to live on the coast.
If we can’t go to the beach, let’s have a pretend beach day at home!
When my kids were little we frequently visited our neighborhood pool, but sometimes I needed an even easier option. On those days I set up the sprinkler and we had a pretend beach day. A neighbor introduced me to this idea when I was very pregnant with my second and needed a low-key way to entertain my daughter. It was fantastic because everyone was having fun, but I didn’t need to be on constant alert the way I was at the pool or beach.
A pretend beach day can include whatever you want. I liked to include all the things we enjoyed at the beach so our pretend beach days had:
- A sprinkler – the kids are going to want water of some sort
- Beach towels laid out on the lawn
- A stack of books to read while we laid on the towels
- Sunscreen
- A picnic lunch
- Sandbox and sand toys
This might be my favorite If You Give a Cat a Cupcake activity because it likely means at least a few peaceful minutes reading while relaxing on a beach towel.
Visit a Science Museum
This If You Give a Cat a Cupcake activity makes a great homeschool field trip!
The silly cat decides to visit a science museum after riding a whale on the merry go round. We can visit science museums too!
Sometimes I take my kids to a museum to see a specific exhibit, but often we follow an approach that is somewhat similar to If You Give a Cat a Cupcake. We just explore whatever seems interesting at the time. Sometimes that means we wander around the museum slowly looking at everything and other times my kids zero in on something specific they want to see. It is okay if you do not see everything in one visit. My personal philosophy is that it is better to make several short museum visits that are full of positive memories than one long visit with angry kids.
Virtual field trips are a great alternative to traditional outings because:
- They are free
- There are no lines
- You can ‘visit’ multiple places in one day
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This If You Give a Cat a Cupcake activity is quick and easy if you choose the virtual option.
Make Play dough ‘Cupcakes’
Many kids would like to decorate cupcakes way more often than we actually want our kids to eat sweet treats. This If You Give a Cat a Cupcake activity themed play dough center can make everyone happy.
At it’s core, a play dough cupcake center really just needs play dough and some sort of decoration. However, the more we make it feel like actually decorating cupcakes, the longer the kids will play.
I suggest including:
- Cupcake pan or silicone cupcake liners
- Play dough in a variety of colors
- Play dough ‘sprinkles’ – these decorations can be real sprinkles, sequins, craft pom poms, craft beads, etc. Kids can use their imaginations.
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Last update on 2026-09-16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Cupcake pans and silicone cupcake liners help contain the mess, while also making this If You Give a Mouse a Cupcake activity feel like real baking. Kids love getting to use real kitchen tools.
If you set out play dough in a variety of colors, kids can pretend that they are different play dough flavors. Kids are pretty creative, so don’t be limited by the traditional cupcake choices of chocolate and vanilla.
Red/pink = strawberry, cherry, watermelon
Blue = blueberry
Green = apple, kiwi, key lime
Yellow = lemon or pineapple
Orange = orange or mango
Brown = chocolate
White = vanilla
All commercial play dough is nontoxic, but if you think your little ones might want to actually taste these cupcakes, homemade play dough is the way to go. There is even a play dough recipe that uses frosting!
Providing a variety of play dough ‘sprinkles’ will help keep kids interested in this activity. A good rule of thumb is to stick to real food items if your kids might eat their creation. Tasty play dough and real sprinkles go well. You can of course use real sprinkles, but you are not limited by what is in your kitchen pantry.
If your kids are old enough to understand not to eat play dough, you can include craft items such as buttons, pom poms, and sequins.
What is your favorite If You Give a Cat a Cupcake activity?
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