(linked HERE)
make fun of lunch!
by Amy Hudson
(linked HERE)
by Amy Hudson
Here at Creative Kid Snacks, we make a lot of funny food and plate art. Breakfast can be made to look like Hello Kitty, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, a snail, a whale, or even Mickey Mouse.
Sometimes, however, a simple yet beautiful presentation is all it takes for your children to know that they are special and that you value spending time with them in the morning. This breakfast would be sweet to serve in the morning after a sleepover party, or as a tea party meal. Perhaps a Saturday morning family breakfast? It would also be a great way to simply say, I am glad we get to spend the day together.
This breakfast features healthy, vitamin-packed fruits and protein-rich eggs. Eating a meal like this for breakfast will help the kids to have the energy they need throughout the whole morning.
Fresh fruit (grapes, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries)
Eggs and country ham
Cheddar cheese (optional for the scrambled eggs)
Scramble eggs and diced country ham. Top with cheddar cheese if desired. Spoon into small bowl or ramekin in the center of a plate. Slice grapes and strawberries in half so that they will lay flat on the plate. Arrange them in a beautiful floral pattern around the eggs – or use any design you like. The end result will be a beautifully appealing, healthy breakfast.
Eggs are considered to be one of the most perfect sources of protein. Protein is vital for kids to enjoy sustained energy throughout the day and build muscle as they grow. Some people worry about the cholesterol found in eggs. As I learned from this Cholesterol article by The Exercise Coach (where I love to work out), cholesterol is not what causes heart disease. I was surprised to learn that it is actually sugar, which causes inflammation, which leads towards all of the problems related to heart disease. It is far better for you to eat an egg than to eat a bowl of sugary cereal. SOO much better!
Raspberries are higher in fiber than even blueberries. They are a great source of antioxidants, and can even help to regulate your mood. Check out this article to learn more.
Blueberries are another antioxidant-rich superfood, boasting a low glycemic index, and providing an excellent source of vitamin K. Read more here.
Did you enjoy today’s snack? Learn more about this blog here.
by Amy Hudson
Healthy eating is a huge deal for us in our house. One of the reasons I started this blog was to empower moms and dads to present HEALTHY food in creative ways to get the kids excited about eating it. The habits kids develop at a young age stay with them as they grow older.
Kia, from Today I Ate A Rainbow, is an awesome mom who also believes in healthy eating. I am so excited to introduce her Today I Ate A Rainbow Kit to you today as a powerful tool to encourage kids along the journey of trying new healthy foods in all the colors of the rainbow.
The kit includes a great magnetic chart naming lots of foods that represent the various colors of the rainbow. Kids can see the items within each column and use the rainbow tracking magnets to mark off as they eat foods in each color category. There are also other achievement cloud magnets included in the kit along with a cute book called “The Rainbow Bunch” to read as a way to introduce the fun new chart into your kitchen!
We received the kit from Kia, and I was so excited to see how my girls would like to use it. I know my oldest loves to keep track of things on charts, and celebrate achievements, big and small.
We opened up the kit, and immediately the girls were interested in what was in there. They looked through the book called “The Rainbow Bunch”, then they started punching out each of the magnets for keeping track of colors as they are eaten.
The magnets are thick and very high quality. This product is meant to live in the kitchen and withstand lots of touching, picking up, and moving around!
We brought our chart to the fridge, and placed the colored shapes beneath the rainbow chart. There are four different shapes of each color in the rainbow included in the pack, so that up to four people can keep track of what they’ve eaten.
Right away, the girls talked about what they had already eaten that day (for breakfast), and marked off the colors of foods they ate earlier. They both looked at the chart and let me know that they (urgently!) needed to eat the rest of the colors. Grace actually ASKED for spinach and blueberries! These are two superfoods and I was thrilled to give them to her.
The chart held it’s appeal over the coming days and weeks. One day, we decided to make these for lunch:
These healthy parfaits are made out of the following ingredients:
fresh organic strawberries
mango
banana
green grapes
blueberries
plain, organic yogurt (you could substitute Greek for added protein)
Cocounut Chia Granola (optional) – available at Costco
Slice and prep all of the ingredients on a cutting board. As the kids prepare to build their own parfait, talk about the colors of the rainbow:
What is the first color of the rainbow? (Red)
What fruit are we using for our red color? (Strawberries)
Can you name some other red foods?
Which one is your favorite?
After each layer of fruit, one scoop of yogurt is placed into the cup. At the end of the process, add one final scoop of yogurt and allow the kids to scoop their own granola on top with a spoon. Since we were using PLAIN yogurt, the kids enjoyed the subtle sweetness of the coconut chia granola we found at Costco. This stuff is delicious. Read all about the health benefits of Chia to find out why it was a great addition to this snack.
After the snack was complete, the girls marked off the colors they ate on their rainbow chart. Take a look!
Moms, I HIGHLY recommend getting a Today I Ate A Rainbow Kit for your own home. Use PROMO CODE: “healthy” to get 25% your purchse! This is a product that truly works wonders and may be that little motivation your child needs to finally start desiring those wonderful fruits and veggies. It can’t be stressed enough that the vitamins, antioxidants, phytonutrients, and minerals in fruits and veggies REALLY DO make and keep us healthy. Dr. Mark Hyman even wrote a book called “Eat Your Medicine”, suggesting that we can actually keep ourselves healthy by getting the necessary immune boosting power from the fruits and veggies we were designed to eat. Check out his post called Eat Your Medicine: Food As Pharmacology and notice that he, too, suggests getting these medicinal benefits from a rainbow of fruits and veggies.
Take a look at some other creative snacks we’ve made including super healthy fruits and veggies!
by Amy Hudson
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is one of the most fun children’s books to read aloud!
Written by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault, and illustrated by Lois Ehlert, the story is told of alphabet letters who mischievously climb a coconut tree and tumble down. The rhythmic way it is written makes it fun to read with the kids, bouncing them on your knees all the while.
We created this lunch using leftovers a combination of leftovers from this yummy meal made the night before and fresh ingredients. Spoon rice (or an alternative listed below) onto the bottom portion of your plate as a ground. Next, use fresh pineapple chunks to build a palm tree. Slice an avocado and place sections above for the palm branches. Slice a meatball in half and lay onto the plate to look like coconuts. (Note: I microwaved the portion of the leftovers I was going to use before assembling this lunch).
Finally, using string cheese, add the letters of the alphabet heading towards the “coconut tree”. You’re done!
Ground: oatmeal, hummus, cheerios, black beans, (or any other beans), turkey, or basically anything brown or black!
Tree trunk: banana, mango, peaches
Palm leaves: sugar snap peas, kiwi, green grapes, green apple slices
Coconuts: cereal, crackers (like Ritz), red or dark grapes, even sliced baby carrot wheels or banana wheels
Letters: pipe yogurt onto plate to make letters, Alphabet cereal
1) Act out the story using alphabet cards (use store-bought or make your own on index cards).
2) Dance to the story, make up moves to go along with different phrases in the book.
3) Put in order the alphabet letters: spread alphabet cards all over the floor (like the pile of letters in the story), and have your child put them back in order by lining them up on the floor. (Make your own alphabet cards if you don’t have your own).
(Sharing HERE)
Did you enjoy today’s snack? Learn more about this blog here.
by Amy Hudson
When Spring starts to peek around the corner after Winter finally ends, it’s fun to embrace the feeling of new life, warmth, brightness, and outdoor fun. Nothing says new life to me like a butterfly! The butterfly snack we have for you today is refreshing, super healthy, and beautiful for the kids to enjoy.
1 piece string cheese. (You can also use just half of one, sliced lengthwise).
8-10 green grapes, sliced in half
3 strawberries
1 baby carrot
To make this guy, simply place a piece of string cheese in the center of the plate. Next, slice your green grapes in half and lie them on the plate as the outline of the butterfly’s two wings. Slice strawberries and fill in the outline formed by the grapes. Next, slice two round slices from the end of a baby carrot. Slice two thin sticks, and slice a tiny bit off each stick. Arrange antennae as shown, place two tiny carrot bits on the string cheese for eyes. Enjoy!
READ.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is such a classic story book! Just like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?, The Very Hungry Caterpillar is an Eric Carle staple I’ll bet most of us have in our bookshelves (if not memorized) and read often. I know it’s been a favorite for my girls.
The story is told of a caterpillar that hatches from an egg, grows, and eats and eats and eats until he is so full that he becomes big and fat. He builds his cocoon, stays inside for more than two weeks, and becomes a beautiful butterfly. It’s the classic metamorphosis story.
PLAY.
Create a “beautiful butterfly” with your child that they can play with over and over again. Follow the simple steps shown below:
My girls love to make these, and they only take about 5 minutes. I love them because they aren’t messy, and they don’t involve too much skill on the parent’s part! We have quite a collection, and my oldest daughter Grace plays with hers often. She loves to hold the butterfly by the stick and swing him around to flap his wings.
It is also fun to make each one unique and different. One thing we have done is make a butterfly for everyone in the family. The kids have fun deciding which colors, patterns, and designs best reflect each person. So fun!
EAT.
Make a healthy caterpillar for lunch!
Take a large strawberry and slice to create his head. Next, create his eyes by using little bits of pineapple cut into circles and place sliced green jelly belly candies in front. Form his body with green grapes , carrot feet, raisin mouth, and ham antennae. He is walking on an oatmeal ground and taking in the cheddar cheese sun!
If you enjoyed this, check out our other animal snacks, as well as our nature themed snacks. The kids will love them! I know mine did!
(Sharing HERE)
Did you enjoy today’s snack? Learn more about this blog here.