Creative Kid Snacks

make fun of lunch!

Paleo Kid Friendly Flower Power Snack

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Flowers are one of the easiest ways to present whole food in a way that children will love.  Today’s Flower Power snack contains protein-packed egg and raw almond butter, as well as fresh red bell pepper, avocado, and apples for fiber.

You may have noticed the little bit of blue color on our egg – we used up our Easter Eggs to make this snack.  (I know it’s August now, this photo was taken several months ago!)  Use eggs as a healthy and colorful center to any flower.  Then, add sliced veggies all around to build a beautiful plate!

Raw almond butter tastes great!  We buy either Trader Joe’s or Maranatha brand, which are both made of only raw almonds!  No hydrogenated vegetable oils or added sugars like regular peanut butter!

What is Paleo?

A paleo diet refers to consuming the following kinds of whole foods: lean proteins, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and healthy fats from sources like fresh fish, olive oil, avocado, etc.  The word “paleo” is short for “paleolithic“, which refers to early prehistoric time when our ancient ancestors had access to certain foods available in nature as opposed to the Standard American Diet full of food options with lots of ingredients, additives, etc.  Consuming these “basic” foods and avoiding highly processed stuff has been proven to lower blood sugar, increase an individual’s energy level, and provide anti-inflamatory benefits.  Learn all about the paleo diet here.  Although we do not live exclusively by this type of diet in our home, the more meals and snacks I can prepare for my kids using the best kinds of foods available for us, the better!

Fruit and Veggie Ingredient Substitutions for Flowers

celery

sugar snap peas

peaches

strawberries

nectarines

bananas

clementine orange slices

grapes

. . . and the list goes on.  Be creative!

If you liked this snack, check out our other flower snacks, and then take a look at some of our other paleo friendly kid snacks:

Mr. Peacock

Breakfast Made Beautiful (would be paleo sans the cheese in the eggs) 🙂

Breakfast Made Beautiful

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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.

Healthy Peacock Snack

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A cute little peacock is a wonderful way to serve all sorts of colorful, healthy food by using it in his beautiful tail.  Awhile back we made this version of a peacock, but I thought he was due for an upgrade!  This version is even healthier than the other, as it is grain free and features veggies that are packed with vitamins and lots of great fiber.

Healthy Peacock Snack

A cute way to serve veggies and hummus! Get the kids excited to eat healthy food this way! Many more ideas on creativekidsnacks.com - great resource!

To make this snack, all you will need will be hummus, and some beautifully colored vegetables.  Simply chop up some veggies (we used carrots, cucumber, celery, and red pepper) and spoon your hummus into a plastic baggie.  You will snip the end off of one corner of the plastic baggie to use as a piping bag, and you will draw the peacock’s body with it.  Use the simple shape shown above.  You can check out our Cucumber and Hummus Cupcake post to get more details about this step and see hummus used in another creative way!

Next, arrange your veggies as shown for the tail.  Use two thin slices of a baby carrot for feet, several thin slices of red pepper for head feathers, and an almond for an eye.

I liked the idea of adding some additional protein to this snack, so I made a little ground out of almonds for our peacock friend to walk on.

A cute way to serve veggies and hummus! Get the kids excited to eat healthy food this way! Many more ideas on creativekidsnacks.com - great resource!

Whichever version you create at home, this snack is sure to be a fun and super HEALTHY one!

Make sure you don’t forget to check out:

Cucumber and Hummus Cupcakes

Our favorite ANIMAL snacks

What is your favorite hummus flavor?  Do you go for original or do you love the different versions out there?

Leave a comment below!

Shapes Lunch

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Lunch and snack time are an important part of the day which can be used for purposes beyond simply providing sustinance for our children.  Why not use this time as an opportunity to teach your child new things?  At Creative Kid Snacks, we are about leveraging meal time to connect with our kids on a deeper level, while serving super healthy food in a fun and engaging way.

Today’s snack can be used to help your child learn to form shapes.  This skill goes beyond simple recognition, (which would be great for a younger child), and extends into the area of fine motor skills.  Read on to see how to do it!

Practice forming shapes during lunch time using superfoods #healty #creative kids food

Step 1:  Create the “examples”

On a plate, form each shape as shown using the following supplies:

Star:  1 baby carrot (sliced into thin strips)

Square:  string cheese sliced in half width-wise, then sliced into 4 flat sections of equal length

Triangle:  blueberries sliced in half so they lie flat on the plate

Oval: Avocado, 2 sliced sections

Heart: Red bell pepper, sliced horizontally accross from standing position.

Step 2:  Provide the kids’ materials

Collect the same ingredients sliced in the way described above and place all onto a plate.  Provide enough for each child to make one of each shape.

Step 3:  Model how each shape is formed, and allow the kids to try!

One shape at a time, show the child how to form the shape using the food.  (Example:  For the triangle, I said “Take one blueberry and lay it on your plate for the tip of the triangle.  Next, take two blueberries and make a row right underneath your first blueberry.  (showing them the second row of blueberries on the example plate), and so on).

Practice forming shapes during lunch time!

Step 4:  Correct any mistakes and praise a job well done

The point of this is to learn the right way to form shapes.  Gently nudge your child along until they correctly make the shape.  If they make a mistake, place the food in the correct place on the plate, hand it back to the child, and have them place it there themselves.  Sometimes it takes patience, and there are some things a younger child might be able to do.  For example, the star was too difficult for my 3 year old to make, but my 5 year old got it with several corrective directions from me.  She was SO proud of herself when she got it!  We snapped a picture of her joy shown below.

Practice forming shapes during lunch time!

Enjoy teaching the kids to form shapes using this delicious and healthy food.

Health Benefits of this snack:

Health benefits of red peppers

Health benefits of avocado

Health benefits of carrots

Health benefits of blueberries

Health benefits of cheese (particularly combining cheese with fruits and veggies as we did in this meal) 

Practice forming shapes during lunch time using superfoods #healty #creative kids food

(Sharing HERE)

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

Baa Baa Black Sheep

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Baa Baa, Black Sheep is a common nursery rhyme that first appeared in Tommy Thumb’s Pretty Song Book published in 1744!  This was a collection of English nursery rhymes, and Baa, Baa Black Sheep, along with Humpty Dumpty, Hey Diddle Diddle, Old King Cole, and more, have been beloved songs and verses chanted by many of us throughout the centuries.  When I became a mom, I made sure to have a copy of the classic nursery rhymes in my library for my own kids to learn and appreciate these little pieces of history.

My two children had the privilege of knowing most of their great grandparents for some of the early years of their life.  I always marveled at the way both great grandparent and great grandchild could recite their favorite nursery rhymes together and how great grandpa was taken back to his childhood as my children were experiencing theirs.

Baa Baa, Black Sheep

Creative Kid Snacks: Baa Baa Black Sheep

Ingredients:

handful of fresh blackberries

1 slice white cheese (mozzarella, provolone, swiss)

2 baby carrots

2 stalks celery

Directions:

Place blackberries in a large circle in the center of the plate.  Add a few extra blackberries where a head would be as you will use this area as a surface on which to lay the face.  Slice a large teardrop along with two small teardrop shapes out of the white cheese.  Place those on the head area to define the face and ears of your sheep.  Next, slice a baby carrot in half and then into 4 thin strips out of one of the halves.  Arrange the 4 strips of carrot below the sheep’s body to look like legs.  Take your knife and carefully slice a little smile out of your remaining half of a baby carrot.  Place the smile on the face.  Use two tiny blackberry fruit bits for eyes, and finish the look by adding small chunks of celery to look like the grass in which the sheep is grazing.

Nutritional Benefits of this Snack

Blackberries contain Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Manganese and fiber.  They are one of the top 10 antioxidant foods, known to contain polyphenols that helps reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease.  They also help to reduce inflammation.  Read more here.

Celery is a fantastic source of fiber, and it is said that a person burns more calories eating and digesting celery than the celery gives you.  It’s a “negative calorie” food!

Carrots contain beta carotene and lots of Vitamin A which helps with eyesight.  Nutrients in carrots are also linked to great skin, cleansing of the body, and lowered risk of stroke and heart disease.  See more here.

If you loved today’s snack, make sure you check out our other Book-Inspired plates along with our other Super Healthy Snacks!

(Sharing HERE)

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

 

Learning about Cells

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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!

Make a cell out of healthy foods from the fridge - great for a science lesson for home schoolers, science classroooms, or simple reinforcement at home when your student learns about cells.

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)

Make a cell out of healthy foods from the fridge - great for a science lesson for home schoolers, science classroooms, or simple reinforcement at home when your student learns about cells.

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:

Make a cell out of healthy foods from the fridge - great for a science lesson for home schoolers, science classroooms, or simple reinforcement at home when your student learns about cells.

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)

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

 

Oscar the Grouch

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We are all about teaching kids to LOVE eating healthy foods here at Creative Kid Snacks, and one way we do that is by presenting them in fun ways.  I can’t tell you how many new foods my daughters have tried (and eaten all up), because it was included in one of their “creative lunches”.  These are foods that they would never choose to eat on their own.

Oscar the Grouch is the perfect character to turn into a super healthy lunch for the kids.  He’s green, brown, and white, and lots of nutrient packed foods can be used here to make him.

I’d like to show you the version we made the other day, and then offer other suggestions for you to try.

Create an Oscar the Grouch snack to serve the kids super healthy foods like peas, meat, olives, or broccoli, beans, or other greens you want them to eat! | CreativeKidSnacks.com

We used the following ingredients for the Oscar shown here:

peas – canned or frozen (thawed, heated)

cheese – any white cheese cut into circles for Oscar’s eyes

black olives – approximately 6 sliced

pulled pork – leftover from sandwiches served the night before

Arrange all ingredients on a small plate as shown to make Oscar’s face.  Super simple!

Variations:

Perhaps you are looking for a way to serve some of the following foods to your kids.  Try these in an Oscar!

Face:

Broccoli

String beans

Edamame

Softened avocado

Green grapes

Green apple slices

Eyebrows:

Rotisserie Chicken

Grilled Chicken breast sliced

Ground Beef

Pulled Beef

Ham

Mouth/Eyeballs:

Raisins

Blueberries

Eyes – Whites:

Hard boiled egg sliced

Cottage Cheese

Yogurt

Hopefully you can make your own super healthy Oscar soon!  Next time I try this, I’m going to use this:

(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!


Under the Sea

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“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”.

"Under the Sea" kids snack with avocados, oatmeal, strawberries, and cheese. So fun! | CreativeKidSnacks.com
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.

Build Your Own Rainbow + Weekly Kids Co-op

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Here at Creative Kid Snacks, we are all about learning to LOVE eating healthy food.  Fruits and Vegetables are so important in everyone’s diet, especially children.  One of the guiding forces for me as a mom is including a variety of healthy food in all of the creative snacks we make.  In honor of St. Patrick’s day, but more so in honor loving healthy eating, let’s build a rainbow!

Build a Rainbow lunch. Have the kids design their own rainbow using a variety of fruits and veggies. Lots of ideas at creativekidsnacks.com on how to include healthy ingredients in the kids' lunches.

My girls loved today’s snack!  It’s simple, healthy, and a way for them to express their own creativity.  We also get to learn about what makes a rainbow!

build your own rainbow

Prepare a variety of fruit and vegetables in every color of the rainbow.

Below are some ideas.

RED: apples, strawberries, raspberries, red bell pepper,cranberries

ORANGE: orange slices, carrots, orange bell pepper, cheese

Yellow: pineapple, yellow bell pepper, bananas

GREEN: green grapes, avocado, celery, sugar snap peas, green peas

BLUE: blueberries

PURPLE: red grapes, purple cabbage

Teach the colors of the Rainbow

As the kids get ready to make their rainbow, start with red, and have the kids pick their red fruit and lay it on their plate.  Tell them that their rainbow can be any design (an arch, a circle, a sqaure, etc.).  Then say that the next color after red is orange.  They will then put their orange food down next to the red.  Continue with yellow, green, blue, and purple.

Try new foods

If your child says she doesn’t like avocado for a green food, for example, tell her to place at least one avocado into her green section.

Make it a contest to see who can find a new food to enjoy!

Read

Click image for source

Click image for source

We have an adorable book called “What Makes a Rainbow?”.  This book would be great to read as a follow-up (or even before) this activity to reinforce what the kids are learning

Eat a Rainbow

I’m sure you’ve seen these awesome charts out there for kids to keep track of how many fruits and veggies they were able to eat in a day.  Creating and eating this snack will be a perfect way to score tons of healthy food points for the day!

Visit TodayIAteARainbow.com

More Rainbow Learning Activities to Try

Kid Activities to learn about rainbows and practice colors from creativekidsnacks.com

(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

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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.

Butterfly Snack made of fruit from creativekidsnacks.com

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:

Butterfly Craft

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.

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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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