Biomimicry Inspiration from Africa with Crocolicious Love

The Crocodile

“No animal is half as vile
As Crocky–Wock, the crocodile.
On Saturdays he likes to crunch
Six juicy children for his lunch
And he especially enjoys
Just three of each, three girls, three boys.

From Dirty Beasts by Roald Dahl

We had a period when we read rhymes from Dirty Beasts every night. In the end we could cite by heart the whole rhyme about Crocky-Wock, the crocodile.

In stories crocodiles are often not the most charming of characters but they can provide great inspiration for ideas.

Crocodiles have a sensitive skin. Yes, I know the bumpy scales look tough but appearances can be deceptive and the bumps help the crocodile to feel vibrations in the water.

Also, the scales of crocodiles protect the crocodile from water loss.Water loss is a problem in the food industry. If you want to make sure that a truly delicious energy bar stays moist you have to make sure that the packing is good. Why not make an energy bar that keeps its moisture using the crocodile scales as inspiration?

Here is one that we made from a box and bubble warp. We painted the box and the bubble wrap with acrylic paint – green and a touch of silver.

The idea is that moisture is trapped and controlled in the bubble wrap bubbles! The bubbles can be popped and in the end there is no food packaging left. Even better than recycling!

We had nothing really yummy apart from cornflakes to fill the box. Before I was organized for taking a photo, our dog tasted the bar and the crocolicious energy bar with cornflakesgot his approval. Never knew he likedcornflakes!

This is an easy craft that can be used when exploring biomimicry with young children.