Design Your Own Anzac Biscuit Package

The Anzac biscuit, a familiar tasty treat that can be found just about everywhere throughout New Zealand. The simple snack comes with a storied history dating back to World War I, and has become a staple in Kiwi homes across Aotearoa. But have you ever thought about what it takes to bring this delicious delicacy to your doorstep?

To celebrate World Art Day on April 15th, you get to design and create your own Anzac biscuit package - Combining skills like engineering, supply chain management, and artistry, to consider how this sweet treat travels from kitchen to store all the way to hungry hands. You can even test your design and create your own custom biscuits.

Depending on materials being used, supervision may be needed with scissors and hot glue guns. Those under four or anyone using a saw or power tool will need close, careful supervision. 

Creating Anzac biscuit packaging provides a fun and productive way to understand the effort that goes into manufacturing and marketing items from the kitchen to pantry. By combining arts and creativity with maths and engineering, tamariki take part in the industrial side of everyday life. This helps to gain appreciation for the thought and effort that goes into providing the goods and services that are so easy to take for granted. 21st century skills like problem solving and creativity are critical to both industry and personal achievement. Who knew that so much goes into making a yummy biscuit!

Tīmata! Let’s get started!

• Packaging Material - Think about the material you use to build your package. How much does it weigh? Is it strong enough to protect the biscuit from crumbling in transit? Some options are paper, cardboard, or even wood. It all depends on what you want to achieve.
• Packaging Design – We’ve provided a template for inspiration or get creative and design your own box that best suits your needs. Some things to consider are how to stack your package so that the biscuits don’t get crushed. How will it look on store shelves? You’ll need to think about the size of Anzac biscuits to make sure that your package fits them without leaving too much empty space for jostling and crumbling.
• Mahi toi (Art Materials) - Get creative. You can use pencils, paint, pens, coloured paper, anything that creates a design that will showcase your delicious biscuits. How will your package catch the eye of someone walking past? Does it feature your biscuits?
• Adhesive – This can be glue, tape, or even origami style folding to mould your packaging material into a box suitable for biscuits.
• Cutting Tool – Depending on your packaging material this can be scissors, a box cutter, a jigsaw, or just ripping with your hands. Those under four or anyone using a saw or power tool will need close, careful supervision.

1. Create a template with your packaging material. Use the template provided as a guide to show the different components needed for creating a 3-dimensional box. You might need flaps that fold into the sides of your box, or some edges that can be glued or nailed together. Think about the size of an Anzac biscuit and how many you want to fit in your package. Do you want the biscuits to lay flat or on their side? Make sure to leave some extra materials aside in case you need to use the first round as a practise package.
2. Now that your template is ready, it’s time to design it. Use your mahi toi to design something that attracts biscuit shoppers, showcases your talent, and calls to shoppers that are still deciding on what they might want.
3. Once your template is ready, cut it out carefully with your selected cutting tool. Supervision required for the under fours.
4. With your template cut out completely, it’s time to assemble. This is where those extra flaps come in handy as they get folded under your edges to create a 3-dimensional package.
5. Final Step! Now it’s time to use your adhesive or other binding materials to secure your build and hold it in place. Check to make sure it holds; you don’t want those precious biscuits to fall out!

Extra for Experts!

1. Design your own biscuit design concept (can use template provided if you like)
2. Test your design and try baking it!

Anzac biscuits were originally designed to keep well over time. Creating a package that can hold biscuits on the shelf can seem like a simple concept, but when creating your own package, there are many factors to consider. What did you learn in your process? The world of packaging is actually a complex industry that is constantly changing.

Science Alive is thrilled to launch a regular competition designed to inspire kids to get creative, explore science, and showcase their amazing creations. This is a fantastic opportunity for young innovators to share their ideas, celebrate their achievements, and even win exciting rewards.

Get involved, get experimenting, and let your imagination shine — we can’t wait to see what you create!