Breakfast Made Beautiful

February 25, 2014 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.

Ingredients:

Fresh fruit (grapes, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries)

Eggs and country ham

Cheddar cheese (optional for the scrambled eggs)

Directions:

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.

Health Benefits of this Dish:

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.

Santa Hat Poppers

November 13, 2013 by Amy Hudson

Looking for cute Christmas Party Food? Today’s Santa Hat Poppers would be the perfect Christmas Party food for kids. Make these Santa Claus inspired party poppers for your next holiday party or put them out at your next playdate to get the kids excited for Christmas.

By the way, you’ll probably love these other cute Christmas Party food ideas for kids: Grinch Party Poppers, Santa Party Poppers, Popcorn Snowman Cups, Snowman Party Poppers

Santa Hat Poppers

Ingredients: (6 poppers)

10-15 oz block mozzarella cheese (sliced from a large block)

6 fresh strawberries

6 round crackers (Ritz, Toasteds, etc.)

Directions:

Using a large block of mozzarella cheese from the grocery store, slice 1/8- 1/4 inch slices of cheese. You want the slices to be large enough to be able to punch two hat bases (using 2 inch cookie cutter shown below) out of each slice.

Use a cookie cutter shaped like a flower or a circle (the one shown here is about 2″ wide), and punch out little bases for your Santa hats. A flower has a cute look once the hats are assembled because it looks like fluffy white fur.

Your bases are now ready!

Slice the stem off of your fresh strawberries. Try to use strawberries with a width that would allow you to see your cute little hat base and not cover it up entirely, or look too small on the base you made.

I punched one more “flower” or Santa Hat base out than I needed, and sliced the little round edges into semicircles for the tops of Santa’s Hat.

I love to use the little plastic toothpicks from the dollar store. They are not too sharp, and look adorable to hold these little guys together. Note: Make sure the top semicircle of cheese is thick enough to allow the toothpick to go through without the cheese falling apart. The block mozzarella cheese I used worked great and did not fall apart. I kept my semicircle cheese hat toppers to at least 1 cm thick.

Although the Santa Hats look great and are ready to eat by step 5, I would suggest placing a cracker beneath each one. The saltiness of the cracker tastes great with the cheese, and also the cracker makes for each pick-up from the plate. This part is optional, but that’s my recommendation.

Your Santa Hat Poppers are now complete and ready to put out at your Christmas party or play date! The kids will love them! Mine sure did!

Enjoy!

Make sure you also check out these fun Christmas Snacks and Lunches:

Grinch Party Poppers

Santa Party Poppers

Popcorn Snowman Cups

Snowman Party Poppers

3 Kings Lunch

Baby Jesus in the Manger

5 Healthy Christmas Snacks for Kids

Jingle Bells Lunch

(Sharing HERE)

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

Hello Kitty Breakfast

November 7, 2013 by Amy Hudson

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

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.

Learning about Cells

May 14, 2013 by Amy Hudson

I remember learning about cells when I was in 7th grade. For extra credit, I made a cell cake. My mom helped me decorate a round cake and create all of the cell components on top using different colored icing and piping instruments.

The cake turned out so well that my teacher decided to place it in a display case in a prominent area of the school. I laugh thinking back at that because the cake sat in there for so long that it started to decompose, and we were never able to eat any of that delicious cell cake!

Aside from earning me those extra credit points, that cake helped me to remember and love learning about the cell.

Today’s snack is a healthy version of that same experience, and it could be done in a science classroom as a test on the parts of a cell, or at home as part of a home school curriculum. You could also make it for your younger kids just to teach them about the cell and how it all works, like we did!

As I was creating this snack for my 5 year-old, I pulled up this great site which gives clear explanations of each part of the cell, along with easy-to-understand drawings and diagrams. I modeled today’s plate after this diagram on the site:

Click photo to be taken to source

Cells have lots of different components, and can be made using just about anything you have on hand in the kitchen. Since we were going for a healthy snack today, here is the list of ingredients we used:

Ingredients

celery (1 stalk)

turkey breast (2 slices)

yellow pepper

strawberry (1 small slice)

orange (1 slice)

carrots (2)

green grapes (1)

yogurt (1 tablespoon)

hot dog slices (3 thin slices)

string cheese (2-3 small slices)

Create your cell by arranging each element on the plate as shown.

The carrots are sliced in half so that they lay flat on the plate.

To create the shape of the centrioles (green grapes), slice a green grape into wheels, then slice tiny triangles out of the edges.

The ribosomes (yogurt) are made using the following technique (which we absolutely love!):

The finished product:

How to use this snack / activity

Challenge your (older) student to create a cell at home for a snack using some of the ingredients pictured here. Your student can see if he can name each part of the cell and what its function is when he is done.

Teach your younger children about the human body using this snack. You could draw the different parts on index cards, and write the function of the part on the back. Your children can pick up one card at a time to learn what that part of the cell does. They can even eat that part as you explain what its job is.

Science teachers could use this as an assessment activity. Provide foods such as those pictured here, and assign students to create a plate of the animal cell, and be prepared to explain what each part is and its function.

Use resources like this to dig deeper and learn even more together with your child!

More Science Related Snacks

Solar System

Volcano

Under the Sea ecosystem

(Sharing HERE)

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Under the Sea

April 8, 2013 by Amy Hudson

“Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid is one of our all-time favorite movie songs. It just gets stuck in our head every time we listen to it!

We’ve been in a bit of a whirlwind in life lately, so Sunday night we decided to veg and have a family movie night. Our movie of choice was The Little Mermaid.

Today’s snack is inspired by Sebastain’s famous song “Under the Sea”.

Create these fun little sea creatures using the following ingredients:

1/2 cup cooked oatmeal

1/4 avocado, sliced

1 strawberry

1/2 slick string cheese

3 grapes

goldfish crackers

1 teaspoon yogurt

Assemble:

Spoon your oatmeal onto the bottom of the plate for the ocean floor.

Next, arrange your avocado slices to look like a beautiful ocean plant.

Slice your strawberry in half so it lies flat on the plate and slice again into 6-8 thin strips to use as the crab’s arms and legs.

Slice 1/2 of your string cheese from the bottom into several small sections. I think this little guy looks like one of Nemo’s little classmates. (Now we are cross-referencing Disney movies!).

Slice grapes in half to lay flat onto the plate, and create little tails by slicing remaining portion of grape in half.

Add goldfish crackers.

**Optional: add little eyes to some of the creatures using a food marker

You are now ready to draw your waves at the top of the plate to complete the “Under the Sea” look. I love to use the following technique:

If you enjoyed today’s snack, you’d also probably like our other Disney inspired snacks as well as our Nature themed plates!

(Sharing HERE)

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

Butterfly

March 4, 2013 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.

Ingredients:

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

Directions:

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!

Continue the Fun with a “READ.PLAY.EAT” activity

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!

Very Hungry Caterpillar: Creative Kid Snacks

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.

Hello Kitty Lunch

February 20, 2013 by Amy Hudson

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

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.

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.

Valentines Day Pancakes

February 3, 2013 by Amy Hudson

Valentines Day is almost here! How about a sweet little breakfast for your Valentine? Make these easy Valentines Day Pancakes!

To create this little plate, simply prepare two medium or one large pancake on your skillet. Next, take your heart shaped cookie cutter and cut out as many little hearts as desired.

Next, give the hearts a little personality, which is what we do on Creative Kid Snacks! I used chocolate chips for their eyes, and a small slice of a strawberry for their mouths. How sweet!

As a finishing touch, I added little whipped cream polka dots around the plate for a little something special for my little Valentines.

Enjoy! (Sharing HERE)

Check out our other Valentines Day Food.

Guess How Much I Love You? Snack

Valentines Day Apples

I love you yogurt breakfast

Santa Party Poppers

December 7, 2012 by Amy Hudson

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)

Grinch Party Poppers

December 4, 2012 by Amy Hudson

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) Follow us on Facebook / Pinterest

Breakfast Made Beautiful

Ingredients:

Directions:

Health Benefits of this Dish:

Santa Hat Poppers

Santa Hat Poppers

Ingredients: (6 poppers)

Directions:

Make sure you also check out these fun Christmas Snacks and Lunches:

Hello Kitty Breakfast

Hello Kitty Breakfast

Ingredients:

Directions:

Health Benefits for Kids

Other Hello Kitty Food

Learning about Cells

Ingredients

How to use this snack / activity

More Science Related Snacks

Under the Sea

Create these fun little sea creatures using the following ingredients:

Assemble:

Butterfly

Ingredients:

Directions:

Continue the Fun with a “READ.PLAY.EAT” activity

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.

Valentines Day Pancakes

Check out our other Valentines Day Food.

Santa Party Poppers

Grinch Party Poppers

Step 1: Collect your ingredients and assemble Grinches

Step 2: Melt Chocolate

Step 3: Pipe Grinch faces

Step 4: Chill, serve, and enjoy!

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