Snacks shaped like bunnies and other animals ()
Making snack time fun may be a little over the top on most days, but right now entertaining your children is a top priority. Why not turn snack time into craft time as well? Take a look at these four ideas for fun snacks for kids.
Start to finish: 10 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
1 green apple
2 tablespoons peanut butter
2 strawberries
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
6 edible eyes
Instructions: Cut the apple into quarters. Lay the apple quarters down, and cut a 1-inch wedge in the middle of the peel side of each quarter. Do not cut all the way through because you want each quarter to stay in one piece. It will look like a mouth. Cut the strawberries in slices lengthwise so that you have 4 pieces. Spread peanut butter on the bottom of each mouth, inside the cutout. Place a strawberry inside the cutout to resemble a tongue sticking out. Poke 6 or 7 sunflowers into the top edge of the cut out to resemble teeth. Serve immediately.
(crayonsandcravings.com)
Start to finish: 20 minutes
Servings: 8
Ingredients:
6 large carrots
2 yellow bell peppers
1 small jicama
One 10 ounce container Sabra classic hummus
1 red bell pepper
3 extra-large black olives
8 fresh chives
Instructions: Peel the carrots and slice into 2-3 inch sticks with one pointed end. Cut the ends off the yellow bell peppers, remove the seeds, and slice the rest of the pepper into sticks with one pointed end. Peel the jicama (I find this easier using a knife rather than a vegetable peeler) and slice it into 1/4 inch thick slabs. Put one large slab aside for the lion's eyes, and slice the rest into 2-3 inch sticks with one pointed end. Open the tub of hummus and place in the center of a large round tray. Arrange carrot, bell pepper, and jicama sticks around the hummus, pointy ends out. Put your longest pieces down first and shorter ones on top.
Cut a wide piece off of the red bell pepper and use a small heart cookie cutter to cut out a nose. It's easiest to cut from the inside of the bell pepper slice, not the peel side. Use a circle cookie cutter, or the opening of an empty spice jar, to cut out two circles from the slab of jicama you set aside. Cut the end with the hole punched out off of two of your olives. Slice the third olive in half and cut a sliver off of each half, lengthwise, for the lion's mouth. Place your bell pepper heart in the center of the hummus. Put your two olive slices below the heart to make a mouth. Place the jicama circles on the hummus, above the nose. Put your olive circles onto the jicama circles to give your lion some eyes. Cut the chives to about three inches long and place four on each side of the nose. If not serving right away, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to devour.
(eatingrichly.com)
Start to finish: 10 minutes
Servings: 2
Ingredients:
For Butterflies
Celery stalks
Peanut butter
Mini pretzels
Candy eyes
For Caterpillar
Green grapes
Wooden skewers
Candy eyes
Icing gel or edible black marker
For Ladybug
Crackers
Cheese
Grape tomatoes
Black olives
Candy eyes
Icing gel or edible black marker
Instructions:
For Butterfly
Rinse and cut your celery into 3-4 inch slices. Apply peanut butter into the middle and insert two mini pretzels. Then add two candy eyes.
For Caterpillar
Rinse and dry about 20 grapes. Carefully skew the grapes. Using the icing gel, draw a smile. Then add two candy eyes.
For Ladybug
Use your cracker as a guide to size your cheese. Place the cheese on top of the cracker. Cut grape tomatoes almost in half, leaving a tiny connection at one end. Open and lay flat on the cheese. Cut a black olive in half and place upside down on top of the tomato. Place the eyes inside the black olive and add the spots with icing gel.
(thecraftingchicks.com)
Start to finish: 15 minutes
Servings: 6
Ingredients:
8 slices total deli meat and cheese, cut no thinner than 1/8 inch
2 whole black olives
Instructions:
Meat and cheese shapes:
Body: Three square slices of cheese
Feet: One 2 inch cheese heart, cut in half (or two teardrops, if you have a teardrop cutter)
Wings: One large round slice of cheese, or one of your square slices cut with a cookie cutter
Feathers: 6 cheese full circles and 9 half circles, cut with 1 1/2 inch round cookie cutter
Eyes: Two 3 inch cheese circles
Beak: One small triangle cheese, cut from the scraps
At the bottom of your platter, place one of the square slices with the curve cut out, points down. Place the other slice opposite, points facing up. Position the feet in the middle of the bottom slice. Place three of the three cheese full circles across the bottom, slightly overlapping, to form the first row of feathers. Place another row directly above the first. Follow with 4 full meat circles, slightly overlapping. Alternate with rows of the half circles of meat and cheese. Position the beak in the middle of the last row. Add the large half circle wings to the outside of the owl. Place the eyes, overlapping them a bit for a googly effect. If you're ready to serve, add the olives - cutting a slice off the bottom of each so they'll stay put. Otherwise, wrap up your tray and place in the refrigerator - you can do this up to a full day before your party. Add the olives to the eyes just before serving - cut a slice off the bottom of each so they'll stay put.
Gather up the ingredients and get crafting with food with your kids. Not only will they love creating new things, but they will also love eating them when complete! How many creative snacks can you come up with?
