Creative Kid Snacks

make fun of lunch!

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!

Lion King Lunch

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“The Lion King” is one of my personal favorite Disney movies of all time.  We just got a copy for Christmas and the songs “Circle of Life” and “Can you feel the love tonight” are stuck in my head for hours every time we watch it!  Simba and Mufasa are the heroes of the story, so today are creating a lion lunch in their honor.
Create grown-up Simba or Mufasa with some rotini pasta with marinara sauce for the mane, a slice of colby jack cheese for his face, and, strawberries cut in a triangle for his nose and two thin strips for his mouth area!  Add two raisins for his eyes, and you are done.
Serve with some grapes on the side, and enjoy!
Check out our other Disney inspired lunches: Mickey, Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc., Up, and Winnie the Pooh

(Linking up HERE)

 

Winnie the Pooh

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We are in love with Costco’s strawberries.  We’ve bought them all summer and they are consistently delicious.
This week I had some strawberries in the house as well as some organic colby jack cheese, also from Costco.  I decided a Winnie the Pooh snack was in order.
Cut cheese to shape using a sharp knife.  I think I used two slices to make this snack, giving the leftover cheese to my two year old.  Next, create a shirt with strawberries sliced in half to lay flat on the plate and fit together to look like a shirt.
Add Pooh’s nose and eyes with some raisins, and draw his mouth and “Hunny” pot using the technique shown below.  Serve the rest of the yogurt on the side, and you have a fun and healthy snack!

(Linked HERE)
 

Snail

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I love the idea of using bright, colorful fruit to recreate some of the beautiful scenes we see in nature.  Although snail shells are not known to be this bright, the two colors I used contrast themselves to show the beautiful pattern that these shells naturally have.
Slice a banana in half lengthwise to make the snail’s body.  Place a ground of oatmeal beneath him.
Add a raisin eye and a sliced blueberry for a mouth.  Use a tiny bit of the other half of the banana for some antennae.
For the shell, use contrasting fruits like raspberries and grapes to form a swirly shell look as shown above.
This one is great to make after reading a book like this:
About this link
(linked HERE)

Ladybug Dessert

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I’ve been needing to add more deserts here, so it’s time for you to meet the little ladybug!
Slice a watermelon into a circle shape about 6 inches across.  You could make it smaller if you wanted.  Slice a small section out of the middle starting the cut from the back and slicing almost all the way through but not completely.

Next, add brown peanut or pretzel M&M’s for her spots.
Slice a piece of toast into a “D” shape as shown and spread with Nutella.
Add two cheerio eyes, and your ladybug dessert is complete!
My little girl LOVED this one (although, she loves all the desserts)!

(linked HERE)

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Dragon Fly

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Try this super easy dragonfly lunch with your kids today!
To make him, slice a banana lengthwise for the body.
Make a peanut butter sandwich and cut all four wings out of the going lengthwise.  There will be just enough sandwich to make all four wings.
Place two wings on each side of the banana, add some arms and antennae with some thinly sliced cheddar cheese, and you are done!
Serve with fresh fruit for a great lunch.
. . .
For a little something extra, show your child how a dragonfly uses each of its four wings independently with this video!  I didn’t know that each wing actually moved on its own!
(linked HERE) 
 

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The Fall of Man (Genesis 3)

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This lunch is intended to teach the kids about the fall of man.  Read Genesis 3 or “The Sneaky Snake” story in the children’s bible.  Talk about how the serpent deceived Eve into thinking she would be like God by eating of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Create the tree by using a a trunk of a ham sandwich, cut into the shape of a “Y”.  Use cucumbers for the greenery on top, and any red fruit you have on hand for the fruit that Eve picked.  I used strawberries.
Next, create Eve by using four baby carrots, positioned with a torso and legs, and cut one in half or into fourths lengthwise to use for her arms.  Create her head by placing a round cracker on top of the body.  Add raisin eyes, a strawberry mouth, and shredded cheese for hair.
Finally, use blueberries to make the serpent in the tree.  I put a tiny smiley face on him using the shredded cheese, because he was very glad to cause the woman to sin against God.
This lunch was one of my daughter’s favorites yet!
Enjoy!

(linked HERE)

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Mickey Mouse

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Mickey Mouse is one of Disney’s most beloved characters of all time.  We love Disney in our house.  We’ve made Winnie the Pooh, Mike Wazowski, the house from the film “Up”, and today we are making Mickey Mouse!
This Mickey was the perfect breakfast.  Oatmeal, raisins, and yogurt are the perfect combination!
(By the way, is photo 1 or photo 2 better?)
Make a semi-circular shape on the plate with your oatmeal.  Next, add Mickey’s ears with the raisins.  Use the plastic bag method shown below to easily draw two oval eyes and the mouth.
Draw the mouth, then add a small piece of watermelon to look like his tongue.
That’s it!
Now, I have one daughter who likes raisins, and one who doesn’t.  Grace, the oldest, wanted a Mickey but did not want raisins.  For her, a threw some raisins into some white bowls for the presentation, then left her with just the face to eat.

(sharing HERE)

Cottage Cheese Lamb

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Create a little lamb for your little lamb by using some mozzarella cheese cut into somewhat of an oval for the face and little rectangles with a point cut out for the legs.  
Next, use a small spoon and lay cottage cheese for the head, body, and tail.  cut a baby carrot in half for the ears, and give him some grass to walk on.  Can you think of a more perfect use of cottage cheese?

(linked HERE)



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The Very Hungry Caterpillar

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We all love the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.  
Take a morning and read the story with your child, then talk about all the foods the caterpillar ate, and perhaps talk about which of the foods he ate were nutritious and which were not. 
Then, create him yourself!  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! 

(linked HERE) 

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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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