10 Photos That Definitively Prove We Should All Play With Our Food

Didn't the adults in your life always tell you not to play with your food when you were a kid? Well now, kids' — and grownups' — meals are getting tinkered with, and the results are beautiful.

Instagrammers are turning snacks into food illustrations: A few berries and some chocolate sauce can become a fashion sketch, and there are adorable edible animals everywhere. We've collected some standout examples of this culinary creativity below. Take a look — you may just get inspired to have fun with your next feast. You won't get in trouble, we promise!

A friendly feline snack.

I'm "berry-berry" lazy this morning😴...here's Chococat😻. I made previously using blueberries, strawberries 🍓and apple 🍏. #fruitart #foodart #chococat #cat #sanrio

A photo posted by m i c h a e l a (@cutechichai) on Apr 4, 2016 at 7:24am PDT

Swimming in a sea of salad.

I may have gotten a little distracted while making some mango salsa... We'll count this for day 56 in my #365daysofjoyinthejourney I am also participating in the #100dayproject thanks to @elleluna for creating it! For 100 days I will continue to create but focus on painting without a paintbrush, drawing without pens, and sculpting without clay. Here 's to day 1! #100daysofcreatingcreatively

A photo posted by Alana Uyema's (@alanauyema) on Apr 19, 2016 at 7:47pm PDT

Got to eat 'em all.

Shout out to ash! #ihop #ihoplove #ihopfood #ihopsmile #foodart #foodartist #pancakeart #pancakeartist #foodgasm #foodporn #instafood #instaeat #eatgram #edibleart #foodgram #pokemon #pokeball #pokemonash #ashketchum #pokemonmaster #professoroak #misty #brock #pikachu

A photo posted by Pancake Artist (@pancakeartist) on Oct 20, 2015 at 2:21pm PDT

Dragons aren't scary when they're made out of pancakes

Mr. Dragon #foodart. #pinterest #foodartist #foodporn #food #breakfast #pancakes #veganpancakes #dragon #funwithfkld #banana #strawberries #chocolate #vegan #vegana #vegano #veganbreakfast #whatveganseat #vegansofig #vegansofinstagram #veganfoodshare #plantbased #crueltyfree #roar #goingbacktobednow

A photo posted by Chantel Mills (@chantel_mills) on Apr 15, 2016 at 9:19am PDT

A very elegant light snack.

A #yummy #bride #madewithlove from #chocolate and #raspberry #selfmade #fruits #fruitarian #fruit #vegetarian #instafood #creativefood #nomnom #foodstagram #foodlover #foodart #foodie #food #foodartist #foodphotography #dessert #delicious #eeeeeats #onthetable #foodporn

A photo posted by @kimbel62_alias_angblu on Apr 17, 2016 at 4:18am PDT

A different spin on ants on a log.

Healthy snack for me and my boys 👍🐌🍎 #healthysnack#snail#veggies#fruit#apple#peanutbutter#celery#carrot#chocolatechips#healthy#fruitart#creativemom#momlife#cute#fit#fitness#fitnessmomlife#fitmom#foodart#foodartist#healthykids#myboys

A photo posted by Jessica Aboytes(Martinez) (@jessica2008guera) on Apr 18, 2016 at 5:50pm PDT

Seascape fruit plate.

Apple crab and banana dolphin 🍎🍌🍓 I "sea" fruit😂 #eathealthy #snackhealthy #fruitart #appleslices #strawberries #bananas #officelife #fruit #fruitanimals #fruitcreation

A photo posted by Victoria❤️👑🐾🌟😉🎀🌹💰♎️ (@victoria_did_it) on Apr 20, 2016 at 9:10am PDT

Complete with a fun fact.

Today's hot air balloon #snackcreation #nannylife #foodart

A photo posted by Melissa Strzala (@mrsstrzala) on Apr 20, 2016 at 12:58pm PDT

Food art made in the moment.

Angry Burger game is getting better! 🍔 @bobbenblog #angryburger #burger #food #foodart

A photo posted by Robert Hannam (@adefaultnord) on Apr 20, 2016 at 10:46am PDT

Proof you don't need a lot of food to make excellent culinary art.

Ein Glücksbärchi! 🐻🍀💚😄 #kiwi #bear #glücksbärchi #klee #herz #heart #sunshine #niedlich #happy #mitessenspieltmannicht #spielkind #sonstnixzutun #studentenleben #obst #healthyfood #foodart #kreativ #instafruit

A photo posted by Alex (@alexsuomi) on Apr 20, 2016 at 10:29am PDT

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