Creative Kid Snacks

make fun of lunch!

A Day at the Beach

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We had our last beach day of the summer this past weekend.
So sad to say goodbye to the lazy days of summer, but we can still commemorate them with a creative snack.
This snack is made by laying turkey breast along the bottom of a plate to look like sand.
Slice some watermelon squares to look like towels.  Cut a baby carrot in half and lay on top of the watermelon like little people.  Add little arms and legs by thinly slicing another baby carrot.  Finally, add little swim shorts and waves using the following method:

 

 
Finish the snack by adding a few goldfish in the water, and you are done!

(Linked HERE)
 

Grover

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Blueberries are known to be a superfood, containing lots of antioxidants, fiber, and other vitamins that are so beneficial for our kids.  

Why not have a great big serving by creating Grover the monster for our snack?  
This Grover was made on a 6 inch kids plate.  Make the eyes by slicing the sides (lengthwise) off of a hardboiled egg.  Cut a blueberry in half to lay it flat over each eye.  
Next, create Grover’s mouth using raspberries running from one end of the plate to the other.  Raspberries are also full of great vitamins like C, E, and A as well as magnesium and fiber, to name a few.
Add a sliced strawberry in the center of the plate for the nose, and fill the rest of Grover’s face in with blueberries. 
Blueberries are not number one on my daughter’s list of favorite fruits, but she ate every single one in this snack!  It’s truly a snack to feel great about giving to your little one!
Variations:
Use yogurt for the whites of Grover’s eyes 

(Linked HERE) 

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Flower garden

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Make use of wonderful seasonal fruit like peaches by creating an awesome snack of a flower garden.
Reminiscent of our famous flower pot snack, this snack is refreshing and beautiful.
Create three flowers.  The first is a turkey breast rosette. Roll up a slice of turkey breast and position atop the celery stem as shown.  The second will be your peach.  Slice normally and position like a flower as shown.  The third will be a strawberry flower.  Slick a strawberry into nine sections (or so) and position on the plate to look like a flower.
Serve with some peanut butter for dipping the celery, and you have a lovely and healthy snack!

(Linked HERE)

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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)

Solar System

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A great excuse to give our kids a variety of fruits, veggies, meats, and cheeses in one snack (while educating them at the same time), is to make the Solar System with them!  Teach your children about the planets in our Solar System (yes, I know Pluto is no longer considered a planet…read on), and give them a healthy snack at the same time!
Using snacks is an amazing way to teach your young child about science.  Take a look at our Volcano post for a good example of this!

I found foods to use for each planet first, then I handed each to my daughter one at a time and had her repeat the names of the planets with me in order.  As she repeated each one, she laid it on the plate (and I spaced them out a little more for the picture).  She normally doesn’t like pepperoni but she ate it with this snack!
Below is a list of which foods I used for each planet:
Sun: mandarin orange, top sliced off and peeled but not separated
Mercury: a red grape
Venus: celery
Earth: kiwi
Mars: strawberry
Jupiter: pepperoni
Saturn: cheddar cheese
Uranus: a slice of string cheese
Neptune: ham
Pluto: (No longer technically a planet) corn
I added Pluto as a way to show my daughter that it was once a part of the solar system but is no longer.
And this one is another solar system I made last week showing the lines of orbit that each planet has.
I prefer the first version, which do you prefer?
The solar system above was made to show how each planet orbits the sun in our galaxy, the milky way.
I made the lines in the photo below as well as the stars in the photos above using this technique:
Variations:
Make your planets out of anything you have in the house that you can cut into circular shapes.  Use your own creativity for this one!

If you enjoyed this post, check out our other educational snacks

 

Volcano
Egyptian Pyramids
Alphabet Lunch (practice your ABC’s)
Stoplight (to learn about traffic rules)
The Flood
Jonah in the Big Fish
David and Goliath
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?  (Includes a lunch and learning activity)
Joshua and the Battle of Jericho
Snowflake Pancakes (plus 25 great educational activities for the snow)

 

 

 

Flower Pot Snack

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When my daughter and I first started making food art, one of the first creative snacks we thought of was this basket of flowers.
The best thing about making a flower arrangement is that it is totally customizable.  You can make flower out of just about any nutritious food.  Fruits and vegetables are especially perfect because of their bright, beautiful colors.

First, I’ll share how we made this one, then I’ll give you some suggestions for alternative flowers.
Place a graham cracker at the bottom of your plate for a basket.  
Next, thinly slice 1-2  celery sticks flower stems.  If you feel so inclined, you can add “leaves” made out of sugar snap peas, avocado, more celery, green apples, or green grapes.
  Now, create four flowers.  Here’s what we used for ours.
Flower 1:  carrots and a grape.  Flower 2: bananas and the bottom of a strawberry.  Flower 3:  a piece of toast with jam cut into the shape of a tulip.  Flower 4: rosette made of ham.  

I like this snack because of the variety of food groups represented, as well as the way it showcases the beautiful colors of the fruits and veggies.

Other great foods to use for flowers:

strawberries

peaches

nectarines

avocado

watermelon

apples

avocado

bell pepper

hummus: pipe onto plate with a beautiful tip using your cake decorating supplies!

Use your imagination!  I’m sure you will come up with a fantastic plate!  Make one today!

If you enjoyed this snack, you might like our other flower snacks, as well as our nature inspired snacks and everyday scenes.

(Sharing HERE)

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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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I Love You

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This Valentines Day inspired snack is plain yogurt served in a heart shaped cookie cutter with grapes, blueberries, and strawberries along with some drizzled honey over top.  The “I” is made of celery and the “u” is made of sliced up string cheese.
A sweet lunch like this is one way I show my little girl how much I love her!  
Try using one of your favorite cookie cutters to jazz up your child’s yogurt and fruit snack anytime!

Jonah in the Big Fish

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Create the story of Jonah in the belly of the big fish!  Big Fish: cantaloupe sliced through without cutting in half;  Jonah: Baby carrot with raisin eyes;  Spout: cheerios;  Eyes and Mouth of Fish: red grapes.
Read the story of Jonah and the Big Fish (the book of Jonah in the Old Testament) or in this great Bible for kids. 

(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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