Special occasions are the perfect opportunity to indulge your child’s creativity and whip up some fun and healthy alternatives to typical party food. Unlike their mass-produced counterparts, which almost always contain excessive sugar and low-quality fats, these kid-friendly recipes contain real fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and natural sweeteners. They’re colorful and healthy, and kids will love sharing them with their friends for a special breakfast, or on their first day of school. Let’s take a look at four very simple, nutritious and fun meals to cook with kids!
Kid-friendly food art project: fruit and veg critters
If it’s strawberry season, you’re in luck – these little beauties give us a lot to play around with, with their bright red color and their delicious flavor. All you need are a few strawberries, some melted chocolate, and blueberries for the head. Grapes, pomegranate, and passion fruit are also playful ingredients kids can use to decorate different creations. For instance, they could use grapes to simulate a nose, pomegranate for the freckles, and half passion fruit as a surprised mouth. You can use different fruits to celebrate the changing of the season. This way, they will learn about seasonal fruit. Check out more ideas here!
No special breakfast is complete without muesli
These simple, delicious, and healthy lollipops are one food craft that’s sure to be a favorite of both parents and children alike! Not to mention, they’re so much fun to make. All you need are: muesli, lollipop sticks, a banana, and tahini or peanut butter.
Muesli offers us a wide range of options. Kids can decorate a breakfast bowl by recreating an autumn landscape, where the fallen leaves are made of muesli and raisins represent tree trunks. Let their imagination run free to create amazing compositions. Last but not least, homemade baked muesli can be a really nice recipe to prepare with them, too. Baking with kids doesn’t have to just mean high-sugar cakes!
Artistic and colorful food craft ideas for kids
Kids love colorful popcorn, but the kinds you find at the supermarket are usually made with artificial additives. Let us offer a solution. Make sure you have an apron ready! Pop the popcorn with a high-quality oil, like extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil. At the same time, prepare a beet juice for the coloring. The juice is easy to make (you can use a blender or do it manually): grate the beet and then squeeze the shavings in your fist to extract the pink liquid. Use a spray bottle to color the popcorn. Kids would love this part, so why not have them do it?
Food art projects with pancakes
Kids will have a ton of fun putting different pancake pieces together. They can create animal shapes, using pancakes as the body and fruits as toppings to add details. Some decoration options are: strawberries for nose, banana slices for the eyes, and blueberries or chocolate chips for the center of the eyes. You can use vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower to simulate trees or bushes, so the animals can be placed in their natural environment. A birthday breakfast would be a perfect time to work on these creations!
These are just a few recipes you can cook with kids. They will add joy to your day and kids will surely love their own healthy creations. There is no harm in adding some fun to healthy eating! These activities may even foster healthy eating habits in kids, without them even realizing.
