Use an empty cereal box to inspire writing. Have children imagine that this is the only cereal available in a grocery store and ask them to write a conversation between two customers about the cereal. Are they disappointed because it's the only cereal available? Do they like they cereal? Will they buy it? Another idea is to tell children that they are the owner of a grocery store and have to decide whether to stock the cereal. They should write an essay outlining the pros and cons of stocking the cereal and their final decision.
Children in upper elementary school and middle school can use empty cereal boxes to learn about advertising techniques. Ask children to look at an empty cereal box and determine who would like the cereal the best (adults, children, healthy eaters) and explain which features on the box lead them to this conclusion. Have children contrast a box of cereal that is geared to children to a box of geared to adults. After looking at empty cereal boxes, have children create their own cereal box using some of the information they learned.
For younger children, cereal boxes make great puzzles to develop hand-eye coordination and problem-solving skills. Cut off the front of a cereal box. Draw straight and curvy lines on the back of the front cover to make an outline for cutting. Cut up the cereal box following the lines to create a puzzle. Children can start assembling the puzzle immediately. To make the puzzle last longer, laminate the pieces or cover the surface with clear contact paper before cutting it into pieces.
Cereal boxes often contain large font. Cut out large letters from empty cereal boxes and use them to help young children recreate the words from the cereal boxes. Glue small magnets on the back of each letter and place them on the refrigerator or a metal cookie sheet so children can arrange the letters to form the words from the cereal box while enhancing their spelling and vocabulary skills.
Have children compare the amount of calories, fat, sugar and vitamins in at least three boxes of cereal by creating bar graphs or circle graphs to record the data found on the nutrition panel. Help children understand that the cereal with the fun pictures and prizes often is not the healthiest by pointing out the amount of sugar contained in a box of "kids' cereal" versus a box of healthier cereal. Not all kids' cereals are high in sugar, so this knowledge can be transferred to the grocery store to help children pick out a cereal without high sugar content.
Help children learn scientific vocabulary and how to define unfamiliar words by using the nutrition panel on a cereal box. Write down all of the words on the nutrition panel that are unfamiliar to the children. Use a dictionary to look up the words and write down their definitions. Many of these words are long and complex, so an online dictionary or search engine might be more useful than a dictionary in book form.