Creative Kid Snacks

make fun of lunch!

Frosty the Snowman and Friends

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My girls love the Frosty the Snowman movie.  We have a DVD of the same version that was on TV all the way back in the 80’s when I was a kid.  They love to sing the song, “Frosty the Snowman, was a jolly happy soul . . .”  The other day I decided to make them a snack inspired by their favorite snowman.  (Even though we’ve already made these snowman snacks last year, today’s snowman looks just like Frosty from the movie).

Frosty the Snowman

Ingredients:

3/4 to 1 cup cottage cheese

1-2 baby carrots

1 slice of banana

1 dried blueberry (I buy the large bag available at Costco)

1 fresh blueberry

2 small slices celery

1 dried cranberry

Directions:

Use a small spoon to scoop the cottage cheese onto the center of the plate.  Gently spread it out to make the largest part of Frosty’s body – his tummy.  Next, spoon each leg on and gently slide cottage cheese into shape if needed.  Follow the same process for his arms.  Cottage cheese is great, because it naturally falls into the shape of fingers at the end of an arm.  You won’t have to use your fine motor skills for this step!  Slice one square piece of celery, along with one thin rectangular piece, and place atop Frosty’s head.  Add a dried cranberry to look like a flower.  Slice a small dried blueberry in half and place onto Frosty’s head for eyes.  Slice your fresh blueberry in half, then slice a crescent shape out of one of the halves, and lay that flat onto Frosty’s face for his smile.

Slice a baby carrot in half lengthwise.  Lay one above the other next to Frosty to look like his broomstick.  Slice one banana wheel.  Carefully take your knife and slice thin sections from the wheel.  Place onto plate to be the bottom of the broom.  To make Frosty’s pipe, slice a baby carrot in half lengthwise, then slice one of those halves again (lengthwise), so you have a flat rectangular piece of carrot to work with.  Slice a pipe shape, aiming to get a thin rectangular piece with a squared piece at the end.  Place the pipe right into Frosty’s smile, and he is complete and ready to delight your little ones!

Frosty’s Wife

After I made Frosty for my oldest, I decided to make him a little friend.  She was easier and faster to make than even him.  Meet Mrs. Frosty.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup cottage cheese

2 fresh blueberries

1 red grape

1 dried blueberry

1 small section of celery

1 dried cranberry

1 baby carrot

Directions:

Use a spoon to scoop and carefully shape three cottage cheese circles onto the plate for Mrs. Snowman’s body.  Next, thinly slice a section of celery and place onto plate for her arms.  Slice a dried blueberry in half and place onto her head for eyes.  Slice a dried cranberry in half width-wise and place beneath eyes for Mrs. Snowman’s mouth.  Add two fresh blueberry buttons and a red grape bow.  To make the bow, slice a red grape in half lengthwise, then slice a triangle out of each half and add a remaining sliver of grape for tie of hair bow.  Complete her with a tiny sliver of a baby carrot (proportional to her face), and you are done!

Enjoy!

More Snowman Fun!

If you enjoyed these snowmen, check out our other snowman creations, (our snowman milk chugs are super easy and fun), along with the rest of our Winter and Christmas snacks!

(Linking up HERE)

Hello Kitty Breakfast

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Hello Kitty has become so popular with little girls lately, and mine are no exception.  We have Hello Kitty pajamas, Hello Kitty purses, Hello Kitty shoes, and even Hello Kitty backpacks.  We also love to celebrate Hello Kitty by making cute snacks.  In the past we’ve made Hello Kitty Sandwich and a Hello Kitty Bagel.  Make sure to  check them out!

Today, we would like to show you our Hello Kitty Breakfast – Hello Kitty Oatmeal

Hello Kitty Breakfast

Creative Kid Snacks: Hello Kitty Breakfast

Ingredients:

1/2 – 3/4 cup cooked oatmeal – (we use instant)

2 fresh strawberries

2 slices banana

2 chocolate chips

Directions:

Arrange your prepared oatmeal on a plate in an oval shape.  Next, slice two ears from a round banana slice by creating a tip like a triangle on each one.  Lay the ears atop the oatmeal at the top corners of the oval you have made.  Next, find a small banana slice and place 3/4 of the way down the oval of oatmeal to be Hello Kitty’s nose.  To make her bow, slice a strawberry in half, then place the tips of the two triangles together to look like a bow.  Slice the bottom tip off of your other strawberry and place in the center of the bow to look like the knot.  Use the remaining strawberry to slice thin whiskers for Hello Kitty.  Place along the sides of the face.  Finally, add two little eyes using chocolate chips.

This breakfast is sure to please any Hello Kitty Fan!

Health Benefits for Kids

Oatmeal is a great choice for breakfast for the kids.  It is filling, full of fiber, and even protein.  Read this article to learn more about all of the health benefits of oatmeal.  Strawberries add a punch of vitamin C and antioxidants, and bananas are a rich source of potassium.

Other Hello Kitty Food

Hello Kitty Bagel Lunch

Hello Kitty Sandwich

(Sharing HERE)

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

 

A Whale of a Breakfast: Moby Dick

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The other day we were feeling creative at breakfast time, and, since we were having oatmeal that morning, we decided to make a friendly whale!

We love to do sea and ocean inspired food, like our “Under the sea“, “Finding Nemo“, “Tropical island“, “A day at the beach“, and “Jonah” snacks.

Creative Kid Snacks: Whale of a Breakfast

Ingredients:

3/4 cup instant oatmeal (plain) cooked according to directions

1 raisin

1 small section of banana

1 small section of strawberry (or cherry, red grape)

Directions:

Spread cooked oatmeal onto plate in the shape of a whale as shown.  Next, thinly slice a small section of banana, and place above whale to look like a spout.  Add a raisin for an eye, and a small bit of strawberry for a happy little smile.

. . . . . . .

We just finished reading a children’s version of Moby Dick.  I read the chapters aloud each night to Grace (my now 5 year old).  I discovered an awesome collection of a bunch of classics in adapted versions perfect for reading aloud.  Since it was a used book store, I snatched up a ton of different books, including Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Secret Garden, Little Women, and more.  It has been so fun for us to read these chapters aloud each night, and introduce the classic literature at a young age!

I suppose that, in honor of our recent read, we should name this breakfast “Moby Dick”.

(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.

Santa Party Poppers

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Meet our cute little Santa Party Popper.

I’ve taken to calling anything on a short stick a “popper” because you can pop it into your mouth and enjoy in one or two bites.

These guys are a dessert for the kids to help make after dinner one night or in preparation for a little party.
*Note:  Santa Party Poppers should be assembled within an hour of when you plan to serve them, because the bananas will brown being out in the air too long.
To make 10 Santa Poppers you will need:
10 regular sized marshmallows (not minis)
2 additional regular sized marshmallows cut into eights (for puff on Santa’s hat)
10 one inch tall banana chunks
10 red mini M&Ms
1/2 cup chocolate chips (for melting)
10 strawberries cut to appropriate size for a hat

 

Before assembly, slice each full sized marshmallow in half lengthwise.  You will need 2 halves per Santa.
To assemble, slide the small marshmallow bit (from those cut into eights) to the top of a decorative toothpick.  Next, slide the strawberry (flat side down), one half marshmallow, the banana, and lastly the other half marshmallow.

Make sure you slice your banana into chunks evenly and straight to ensure that they do not lean or tip over once assembled.

Tip:  Sliding the bottom marshmallow on with the sticky side down will allow it to stand up better on the serving plate because it will stick!
Next, melt your half cup of chocolate chips in the microwave.  I melted mine for a total of 45-50 seconds on high, stopping to stir every 20 seconds.
Once melted, spoon chocolate into a Ziploc bag and snip a TINY triangle off one of the corners.  You will pipe the chocolate out through this hole.
Pipe two eyes and dot for his nose on every Santa.  I placed the nose dot right above the bottom marshmallow.
Place a red M&M on each chocolate dot and press to stick down for Santa’s nose.
Once this step is complete, refrigerate for 10 minutes and serve (see *note above)
The kids will love this dessert, and you can feel good knowing it is mostly fruit.  The only refined sugar they will be getting is the equivalent of 1 1/8 marshmallow and a tiny bit of chocolate.

(Linking up HERE)

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Grinch Party Poppers

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The Grinch is one of Dr. Suess’ most beloved characters, and at Christmas we love to watch “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”.
Just like we love to make Christmas trees, wreathes, snowmen, Santa, and reindeer for snacks this time of the year, we also love Mr. Grinch.

Today’s snack is a perfect finger food to put out for the kids at a Christmas party.
These would also be perfect for a Christmastime sleepover, featuring popcorn, the Grinch movie, and these scrumptious little poppers.
Healthy, cute, and super fun, you know these little guys will be a hit.
Here’s how to make them.

Step 1: Collect your ingredients and assemble Grinches

 
(Depending on how many Grinch poppers you would like to make, you will need that many of the following):
 
-slice of white string cheese (at least 1/3 inch thick)
-strawberry
-banana slice (at least 1/3 inch thick)
-green grape (with bottom sliced off so it lays flat)
-melted chocolate. (1/2 of a Hershey’s bar, broken into pieces and microwaved until melted, stirring at 20 second intervals will be plenty to make up to 25 poppers)
 
Assemble each Grinch by sliding each piece up a plastic toothpick.  I get mine from the dollar store.  They come in a package of assorted colors with little hearts on the top.  They are the perfect size, and not too sharp for the kids to eat off of.
 

 Step 2: Melt Chocolate

 
 Depending on how many poppers you are making, melt the appropriate amount of chocolate.  I used a simple Hershey bar in this recipe.

1/2 of a Hershey’s bar, broken into pieces and microwaved until melted, stirring at 20 second intervals will be plenty to make up to 25 poppers.

  Step 3: Pipe Grinch faces

Place your melted chocolate into a piping bag with a very small tip attachment; 
or do it the easy way by using a ziploc bag with a tiny snip off of one corner to pipe your faces.
Make 2 eyes with frowning eyebrows above them.  Next, make a wide smile with bumps and a little point at the bottom middle.

Step 4:  Chill, serve, and enjoy!

 
Chill in the refridgerator for at least 15 minutes.
 

 My little girls LOVED these guys.  I made about 10 of them for today’s post, and they had to be cut off after 4 each!  (They still hadn’t had their lunch yet)!
 
TIP: Pipe Grinch faces onto grapes and chill in advance if you want to work ahead and prevent the rest of the ingredients from being out in the air too long.
 
(Sharing HERE)
 
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ABC Lunch

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Is your child learning the ABC’s?  How about their vowels?  Today I have a lunch for you that is inspired by a story and that is perfect for teaching the ABC’s, practicing vowels, and spelling.

Slice a banana into 21 sections, and then find something else, like celery or perhaps apples or graham crackers, to use for your vowels.  Next, find a plastic bag, snip off a tiny piece of the corner, and fill with several tablespoons of peanut butter.

Before piping the letters onto each space, work the peanut butter around in the bag using your fingers until it softens a bit.  It will come out much easier that way.
Before eating, here are a few things you can do with your child:
a. Sing the alphabet song, of course!
b.  Ask him to point to the first letter in his name.
c.  Ask her to spell her name by pointing to each letter.
d.  Ask him which letter makes the sound __(fill in the blank)___.
e.  Point out the vowels and explain that there is a vowel in every English word.  (“Y” is also used as a vowel in certain cases)
f. Sing the “I like to eat apples and bananas” song to practice your vowel sounds.
g.  Use your imagination.
Now, read and play!
Screen shot 2013-01-22 at 2.05.44 PM
How Rocket Learned to Read is an adorable book about a dog who meets a little bird who happens to be teaching a class right in his favorite napping spot.  Rocket and the bird meet up every day, and the bird teaches Rocket his letters, reads him stories, and inspires him to love learning.  When winter comes, the bird flies south for the winter, leaving Rocket to practice his letters and wait for the bird to return.  They develop a beautiful friendship, and Rocket finally learns to read.
PLAY.
Take a few moments and practice your letter sounds with those magnetic letters that most of us have on the fridge.  Right now, my daughter is at the beginning stages of reading and knows her letter sounds well.
Use a simple word like “cat”, and practice moving new letters in front of the “at” and ask your child to sound out the new word.  Since they will be so similar to each other, it will be fun for your child to successfully read so many words in a row.
Try the same thing with different word endings, or by moving vowels in and out of the middle of simple words.
Kids will love this tasty alphabet snack!
(Sharing HERE)

Read.Play.Eat: Blackout

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I’ve mentioned the awesome series going on at Sugar and Spice (my personal blog) on Learning and Literacy.  Each day, one of three cool bloggers share a kids story book along with an activity to go along with it.  Since I can’t resist making creative snacks, I’m also sharing those in each of my posts in this October series.

Here’s a little “teaser” for you to see the lunch I made.  Click the link below to see the great kids’ book that goes with it, along with a learning activity you and your child can try today!

Read
(Click here to see the book)
Play
(Go over to the post to see the learning activity!)
Eat
 
Re-create the rooftop scene by making a building out of a peanut butter sandwich, cutting the crusts into cubes for windows.  Next, slice 2 baby carrots in half and in half again for the main part of the bodies.  Thinly slice the remaining portions for the arms and legs.  We are seeing the people from behind, as shown in the cover of the book above, so no eyes are needed.  
I almost used a full banana for the moon, but it was way too big for the scale of the plate, so I cut a banana to shape.  
Create the stars by using your star icing tube attachment in the corner of a plastic bag.  Fill the bag with a little plain or vanilla yogurt as shown.  If you don’t have a star attachment for icing, just make little dot stars!
 
 
I hope you and your child have fun with this READ.PLAY.EAT activity.

(Did you go see the whole thing?  DO IT) 

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A Pair of Pair Snacks

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Have a play date coming up?  Need a 45 second snack for a crowd?  Try one of these snacks!

Create two little flowers by peeling a clementine and arranging it as petals.  Next, slice some green grapes in half to make the stems, and finish with a ground of cereal.  I used Kix.  Easy and fun!

For something a bit more filling and nutritious, create little people out of a slice of cheese (I used organic Colby Jack from Costco), add blueberry eyes and a red grape mouth.  Place carrots on either side of the cheese to make their arms.  Use some sliced bananas for some funky hair, and finish with two little turkey legs.
There you have two fun little snacks that each take less than a minute or two to make!

More Play Date Snacks

Kite

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Do you own a kite?  Last summer, we took the girls to a kite festival.  They got to see professional kite flyers putting on a great air show.  There was music, and even a chance for the kids to make their own kites.  Granted, the kites they got to make were only out of paper, but it was a great way to introduce the kids to all that kites can do when flown right!
To create this kite lunch, take a peanut butter sandwich and cut a diamond.  Next, slice a baby carrot into thin sections to create the criss cross over the kite.  To make the string, slice a banana into a thin strip, and place strawberries over it to look like bows.
Show that the kite is in the sky by adding a bird made of sliced apples and a puffy cottage cheese cloud.

Variations:
Create a larger kite using a banana for the outline and fruit for the colorful filling.  Use yogurt to draw a string.
Use yogurt or whipped cream for a cloud.
Make this into a dessert by making the kite out of a s’more or a brownie/bar you have on hand.

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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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