Middle school science doesn’t have to be dry and boring. Here are 9 Cell Science Projects Using Cake and Candy, including my daughter’s 7th grade project in which baked a cake to depict a model of a cell.
The model of a cell cake is a popular science project for 7th grade. My daughter says that anyone who bakes this cake gets an A on their project. Her class ate the cake after she and her partner presented it. It was delicious even though it was a day old.
Here are instructions to bake your own Edible Cell Model from Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers. There is a lot of leftover candy after the project is completed which is why I think my daughter chose this project!
- Blue Mike and Ikes = mitochondria
- Pink Mike and Ikes = smooth endoplasmic reticulum
- War Heads = vacuoles
- Air Heads Xtremes = rough endoplasmic reticulum
- Sour gummy worms = Golgi apparatus
- Candy disc sprinkles = ribosomes
- Cupcake = nucleus
Erik from This Kid Reviews Books made an awesome Steampunk version of a cell!

It lights up too!
At my daughter’s parent-teacher conference, I found other versions of the Cell Model Project. This one was made of sculpy clay.
The lego cell model was a creative twist! My son could do that in a few years when he’s in 7th grade. He has plenty of legos for this project!
Animal Cell Model from KCFAC.kilgore.edu.
Here are some other really cool edible cell models that I found online.
3D Cake with cell parts within the cake!
Watermelon cell model.
Animal cell model pizza!
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These are awesome! My son had this project in school this year, but he made his out of styrofoam not an edible version.
Hi Dee,
I didn’t realize how many different ways there are to make a cell model! Stryofoam sounds like a great model too!
How cool – much more creative than my kids did! Your daughter’s cake would have been a huge hit at our house, and but I really like the pizza version too.
Hi Jennifer,
I like the pizza version too! We didn’t get any cake though. They ate it in science class! It was still delicious, I’m told, three days later!
So fun! I remember doing these when I was in high school. I used all sorts of sewing supplies and a shoe box lid to make a plant cell. We had cookie and brownie cells and all sorts of wonderfully creative things. I will be doing these at some point with my boys and I’m betting at least one of them will choose a pizza version!
Hi Mother of 3,
What fun to make the cell models out of cookies and brownies! I like the pizza version too though we haven’t tried that one yet. Maybe my youngest will … he has two years before he will get this assignment. My daughter chose the cake because she heard it was an automatic A. The teacher loves it because they eat the cake in class! 🙂
Love the pizza one. When I did this, I made a steampunk cell. I made it our of parts and hardware. It was in a wooden case with plexiglass over it. I put dish detergent inside for the cytoplasm and it lit up so it looked kind of cool. ;o)
Hi Erik,
Do you happen to have a photo of your steampunk cell model? It sounds amazing. If you emailed it to me, I’ll add it to this post with an attribution and link to you! Thanks for considering!!!
I will email some pictures to you! 🙂
Hi Erik,
Your Steampunk model is awesome! Thanks so much for your photos! I added them!!! Wow, I bet you got a good grade for them! 🙂