Creative Kid Snacks

make fun of lunch!

Ladybug Apples

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My oldest daughter checked out a great book at her school library recently.  It is a great book all about ladybugs.  The book goes into great detail about ladybugs’ life cycle, body structure, defense mechanisms, uses as natural pest repellants in agriculture, and much more.  I learned a lot after reading this book with her!  In honor of learning all about ladybugs, we decided to make a special treat to eat after lunch.

Ladybug Apples

Ingredients:

1 apple (we used Honeycrisp)

4-6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

2 cheerios

Directions:

Slice the apple into two halves, just outside the core.  You will have two halves to make into little ladybugs.  Place chocolate chips into a small glass bowl and microwave for one minute, stirring with a rubber spatula at 20 second intervals.  Once chocolate is melted, spoon into a plastic zip baggie and slice a tiny corner off of the bag to use for piping the chocolate.  Pipe a “T” across the back of the ladybug’s back – one central line along the back, and one line to divide what will look like the back from what will look like  the head area.  Fill in the head with chocolate, drizzling it in with the piping bag, then smoothing with a knife, then add little dots around the rest of the back.  Add two cheerio eyes, repeat for the other ladybug, and chill for 10 minutes in the fridge.

Easy, fun, and delicious dessert to celebrate learning new things!  Enjoy!

If you liked these little guys, you may also want to check out our other animal creations.

(Sharing HERE)

Did you enjoy today’s snack?  Learn more about this blog here.

 

Panda Bear Dinner

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Sometimes a fun presentation is in order at dinner time.  We all want to serve our kids a healthy and balanced dinner, so why not use the “trick” of an adorable and creative presentation to get them excited to eat a great dinner?  Today’s Panda bear dinner features rice, black beans, meat, and veggies.  Check him out!

Ingredients:

1  cup cooked white rice

1/2 cup black beans, heated

1 stick celery

3 slices of cooked meat (chicken, pork, beef)

3 sugar snap peas

Directions:

Heat black beans and place in a bowl.  Place a spoonful of beans around the plate for Panda’s legs and arms.  Next, fill in the center of the plate with white rice to look like the panda’s tummy.  Panda’s have a thin black section of fur where there neck is, so add a line of black beans above the white tummy where the neck would be.  Spoon some white rice onto the plate for the panda’s head, and arrange two black beans tilted outward for eyes, add a nose, and slice a final black bean into thin strips for the mouth.  Add two small black bean ears.

Now, give your panda some “bamboo” to eat by placing the celery in his hand.  Bamboo is a grass that is crunchy and fibrous, just like celery would be.  Finally, add a little tree on the other side of the panda, layering your strips of meat together and adding some sugar snap pea leaves.

Also, check out this Hot air balloon dinner featuring grilled chicken, corn, red bell pepper, guacamole, cheese, and carrots.  My kids loved it and I’m sure yours will too!

(Sharing HERE)

Did you enjoy today’s snack?  Learn more about this blog here.

Turkey

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Fall is in full swing, and soon it will be Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving is one of our favorite holidays – great food, family, gratitude, and, best of all, no present-buying frenzy!  Build up anticipation for Thanksgiving with this fun and healthy lunch!

Turkey

Ingredients:

Turkey sandwich (fresh turkey breast, whole wheat bread, and mayo) / Substitute a peanut butter sandwich if desired!

Baby Carrots

1 cashew

1 raisin

1 cube pineapple

2 celery stalks

Directions:

Slice a turkey sandwich into a pear shape as shown above.  Next, arrange baby carrots all around the body to look like tail feathers.  You can also slice carrots in half lengthwise to control portion size or to allow them to lay flat on the plate.  Slice a raisin in half and place onto sandwich for eyes.  Place a cashew beneath the eyes to look like a beak.  Slice a pineapple chunk into two thin strips, then slice two thin triangles and place beneath legs.  Finish off the plate with celery “grass” where the turkey is happily frolicking!

Octopus

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Looking for a healthy and fun after school snack for the kids?  Try this fun little octopus, which they’ll be sure to love.

Ingredients:

1 slice cheese (any kind)

8 baby carrots

1 red grape

2 black beans or raisins

Directions:

Slice your piece of cheese into a large, oval head with a bit of a neck on the bottom.  Lay that on the plate towards the top.  Next, slice your baby carrots into 5-7 circular sections each.  Throw all of your little carrot circles into a small bowl.  Arrange eight legs coming out of the octopus’ body, starting with the larger sized carrot rounds and ending the leg with the smaller sized carrot rounds.  This will look more realistic.  Add two black bean eyes, and slice a thin section off of a red grape that has been sliced in half.  Place onto your octopus to look like a happy smile.

Did you enjoy today’s snack?  Check out a whole bunch more SUPER HEALTHY AFTER SCHOOL SNACKS!  Try them all with your kids this fall!

(Sharing HERE)

Did you enjoy today’s snack?  Learn more about this blog here.

Puppy Dog Wrap

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Today I’ll be showing you a simple puppy lunch, and then a variety of other great snacks to make using a high protein, high fiber tortilla wrap.  I’ve recently discovered these babies and have really enjoyed using them with my girls to make creative lunches.  I’ve also enjoyed knowing that the girls are getting significantly more protein and fiber from the wraps than they would from two slices of traditional bread.

Easy Puppy lunch made with a tortilla wrap. Simply fold over a wrap to make a turkey sandwich, and add fruit and string cheese for his face! So fun! By CreativeKidSnacks.com

Ingredients:

1 tortilla wrap (I use Ole brand multi-grain or whole wheat)

1-2 oz turkey breast

1-2 t miracle whip or mayo (here‘s a great healthier mayo recipe)

1/2 strawberry

1 blueberry

1 grape

string cheese

Make a puppy lunch:

Make a turkey wrap by spreading mayo onto tortilla and adding turkey on one half.  Fold over to make a half circle shape.  Slice two “ears” from each corner as shown.

Slice a blueberry in half and lay onto wrap to look like eyes.

Slice a grape in half and lay flat onto wrap for a nose.

Peel two thin strips of string cheese.  Lay in a “w” shape beneath nose to look like a puppy’s face.

Add a strawberry tongue and you are all set!  Simple and adorable.

Other fun lunches to make using wraps (once you’ve bought yourself a package and all):

Rocket ship

Choo-Choo train

Butterfly Quesadillas

(Sharing HERE)

Did you enjoy today’s snack?  Learn more about this blog here.

Gone Fishin’

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Today’s lunch takes almost no time to prepare, and features foods that all kids love: peanut butter sandwich, string cheese, and goldfish.

As we all know, the aforementioned aren’t the most healthy foods in the world, but they are being served in moderation here, and I will share with you a couple secrets on how to make even a peanut butter sandwich more healthy.

How to create a simple "Gone Fishin'" lunch for your kids today! | CreativeKidSnacks.com

Ingredients:

1 slice whole wheat bread

1-2 T homemade peanut butter (see below)

1 piece string cheese

1 grape

1 goldfish

1 pretzel stick

1 strawberry (or other small fruit for a hat)

Create your Gone Fishin’ Lunch:

Today’s lunch features a boat that is half of a peanut butter sandwich.  Because I always like to strive to feed my kids the healthiest possible version of their food that I can, I’m going to show you something I just about when I purchased our awesome new toy – a Vitamix.

Make your own peanut butter:

You can make your own peanut butter if you have a Vitamix or a food processor.  When you make it yourself as described below, you avoid all of the extra sugars and hydrogenated oils found in even the “healthiest” brand name peanut butters.

Vitamix Peanut Butter

Vitamix Peanut Butter

Combine 1 jar of lightly roasted peanuts with several handfuls of almonds (raw, roasted, unseasoned) and set the Vitamix to high for a minute or two.   I bought lightly roasted because they have great flavor for turning into peanut butter and they also have less additives than regular roasted peanuts.  You can also add any other kind of nut you would like to this mix.  Just choose nuts that are not highly processed so that you will avoid that extra salt, sugar, and other chemicals and keep that great nutritional value.

Once you are done, you will have warm, delicious peanut butter with fantastic flavor and so many less ingredients to serve to your kids.

Next, you will slice the string cheese in half width-wise.  Place one half on top of the “boat” to be a fisherman.  Peel thin strings from the other half and use them to place beneath the boat for waves.  Use one thin string for the fishing line.  Place two thin strips of cheese on either side of your fisherman’s body for arms.

Add a pretzel for a fishing rod.

Next, slice a red grape, blueberry, or other dark fruit into small strips.  Arrange two of them to look like a hook at the bottom of the fishing line.  Use two tiny bits of that same fruit for your fisherman’s eyes.  (If you have a food marker, you may also use that to draw your man’s eyes and smile).

Place a goldfish near the hook, and you are done!

(Sharing HERE)

Did you enjoy today’s snack?  Learn more about this blog here.

And now it’s time for the Weekly Kids Co-op!

As moms, we are constantly on the lookout for great teaching tools and resources to use with our children.  I know I always benefit from seeing the creativity of others as they share lessons, activities, crafts, food, and more in their various blogs.  Mommy bloggers have become popular for a good reason: information is power.  Right, ladies?

The Weekly Kids Co-Op

The Weekly Kids Co-op is one of my very favorite such resources.  I have been linking my snacks to this link party for months now, and I am excited to be able to co-host it here at Creative Kid Snacks.

If you are a blogger, link up your kid related posts to share with all of us eager beaver mommas.  If you are a mom, take some time to look through all of the great ideas for teaching and playing with our kids.  Pin what you love.  Like I said before, information is power!

This party will take place every Thursday at Creative Kid Snacks.  You will find it hosted on several other blogs, but the days the party goes live will vary from blog to blog.

Get ready for all the great ideas!  Link, share, and enjoy!


Butterfly Quesadilla + Weekly Kids Co-op

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Butterflies are a sign of new life.  Spring always gets me motivated to get outside, enjoy nature, and celebrate it with our food, too!  My daughter has been very in to butterflies lately, and she has even requested a rainbow butterfly birthday party!  We’ve already made delicious fruit butterfly for a snack, and today’s butterfly will be a lunchtime butterfly treat.

Butterfly Quesadillas

Buttefly quesadillas by creativekidsnacks.com. Super easy and so fun!

I have two daughters.  I made one quesadilla with a 8-inch tortillas, (I love to use the whole wheat or multi-grain tortilla wraps), and cut it into 4 equal portions.  Place two quesadilla “wings” on your plate.

Create the body by slicing the end off of some beautiful green grapes and laying them on your plate to look like a body.

Thinly slice a baby carrot into strips to use for antennae, and place two blueberries on top of the carrots to complete the look.

If you feel so inclined, you could even use a food marker to draw a happy face on the top grape for your butterfly.

That’s it!  Super easy and so fun for the kids.

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!

By the way, I found another blogger who has another take on the butterfly quesadillas.  Check her version out here!

(Sharing HERE)

Did you enjoy today’s snack?  Learn more about this blog here.

 


Hello Kitty Lunch

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Hello Kitty is a beloved character that I used to watch when I was a young girl, and who has now made a comeback.  My four year old daughter carries a bright pink Hello Kitty backpack to school with her every day.

With Hello Kitty‘s recent surge of popularity, we had a request by a Facebook friend to share some Hello Kitty inspired food.

Hello Kitty Lunch

Hello Kitty Lunch

Ingredients: 1 half bagel, 2 T whipped cream cheese, 2 blueberries, 1 slice banana, 6 thin slices apple, 1 strawberry, and 1 raspberry.

To create this easy and cute Hello Kitty, I used a half bagel spread with a thin layer of whipped cream cheese.  I cut a small section from the top to create her ears.  Next I added two blueberry eyes, a small banana nose, and thinly sliced apple whiskers.  For her bow, I sliced one strawberry in half for the two sides of the bow, and used a raspberry for the center.

That’s it.  A delicious and fun lunch with a great variety of wonderful fruit.

Here is another Hello Kitty Lunch we’ve created in the past.

hello kitty lunch

See the blog post about this Hello Kitty here.

And coming up soon I have a Hello Kitty Breakfast!  WooHoo!

(Sharing HERE)

Did you enjoy today’s snack?  Learn more about this blog here.

Porcupine

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Who doesn’t love peanut butter?  A peanut butter porcupine is even better!  Make this snack for your peanut butter-loving child and he will be delighted to dip every part of the snack into the yummy peanut butter.

My girls love to make snacks that reflect nature.  Things that they see around them every day.  Some examples of our nature snacks include Solar System, Flower Garden, Dragon Fly, and others found here.

Pocupine peanut butter dipping snack

This guy is super easy to make and the kids love dipping everything in the peanut butter.

First, spread a tablespoon or two of peanut butter in the center of the plate.

Next, give him some spikes using mini pretzel sticks.

Cut several slices of banana into circles and slice two of those circles in half to lay flat on the plate.  Now place a head and a tail on each end of his body.  Add a tiny dollop of peanut butter for his nose, and break off a small end of a pretzel stick to stick into the banana for his eye.

Finally, add some celery as the grass he’s playing in, and you are done!

When I made this snack for my girls, They loved dipping everything in the peanut butter to eat.  This snack is definitely a winner!

Pocupine peanut butter dipping snack

Make sure to check out our other nature and everyday scenes snacks!

(I’ll be sharing this HERE)

Did you enjoy today’s snack?  Learn more about this blog here.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

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Today’s post features Eric Carle’s beloved Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you see? story book as well as a learning activity and snack to go with it!
This comes from a series I been calling Read.Play.Eat.  Take a look at the snacks and learning activities I shared for the following children’s books:
Blackout
It Could Always Be Worse
Lousy Rotten Stinkin’ Grapes

READ.

By Eric Carle
This is a story I’ll bet almost all of us have in our libraries!  I remember hearing this book read to me in kindergarten.
Read this story to you child.  Allow them to “fill in the blanks” as you pause when each new page comes.  They will quickly learn to name each new animal as it shows up.
PLAY.
Make some simple animals using a sharpie and some white cardstock.  I simply drew freehand from what I saw in the book.
Go through the story, and have your child color each animal as they appear.
Next, make some “puzzle pieces” by cutting the animals in half.
The goal will be to match each animal’s front to its back.
It will be all the easier with the colors each animal has.
Your child will be delighted to do a puzzle that he or she made themselves.
Another activity to do once the animals have all been matched together is to line them up in order of appearance in the story.
First, see if your child can do it from memory, then “check your answers” by using the book.  If they made mistakes, have them re-arrange the order to learn the right way.
So much fun!
EAT.
Create the Brown Bear of “Brown Bear, Brown Bear” by simply making a peanut butter sandwich, and slicing four legs.  The natural shape of the bread is very close to the shape of the bear in the illustrations in the book.
Next, cut a circle from another piece of bread.  Use two half raisins for the eyes, and some halved almonds for his ears and nose as shown.  So easy!

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Copyright Note

Please feel free to use any of these ideas with your children at home, school, church, or anywhere you are inspired to make fun of lunch. If you would like to share a post on a blog or site, you may use one picture so long as you include a link to the original post. Please do not re-post the whole article or distribute printed-out content without written permission from the original author.

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