What happens when our children play with their food

We have really tried to teach our children proper table manners.  They say really nice blessings before each meal and often preach a sermon in the process.  They usually employ the words "please" and "thank you" when appropriate.  They try not to make rude noises when they eat, and they usually chew without opening their mouths too much. 

I have often told them not to play with their food.  Our son especially needs to be reminded of this rule because he almost always spills a drink or knocks a plate into the floor whenever he begins creative food play.   Our older child usually obeys this rule, but today was the exception.  I served her a beef tamale wrapped in a corn husk for lunch and then rushed upstairs to fold some laundry before the post dryer-cycle wrinkles could set.  When I returned, I found a pretty corn husk doll lying on the kitchen table. 

Clearly, she played with her food, and she even used her paper napkin to make an apron for the doll.  In this case, could the ends justify the means?  She would probably tell me that since the husk was used as a wrapper and not intended for human consumption, she did not technically break the rule.