Creative Kid Snacks

make fun of lunch!

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)

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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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