Play Dress Up with Your Lil’ Sprout’s Food

Hey, guys! The last post was on picky eating. I shared some of what I’ve learned so far as a mom and ways that have worked for me to expand my little guy’s palate. Below are some fun and creative food concoctions that will make your kids smile and hopefully get them more interested in trying new things. Key word is hopefully, but again, don’t give up! It takes 15-20+ times of introducing or re-introducing a new food before your child will even try it, and keeping things creative and kid-friendly can only help, right? I don’t always remember to dress up my little man’s food, but these ideas get me motivated and inspired to think beyond the square sandwich. Take a look!

The Sandwich

1. English Muffin Face

You can also make a bagel face, but we rarely do bagels in our house so I opted for English muffins, (for a gluten-free option go for rice cakes). Toast the muffin and go to town! For the spread you can use peanut butter, almond butter, cream cheese, sunflower butter, Nutella type product for a treat or hummus for a savory face…oh, the possibilities! I always use spinach or lettuce for the hair, I did raisins here for the eyes and mouth, but you can do carrots, pretzels, cucumbers, yellow squash or zucchini, bananas, etc. Same goes for the nose, you could try celery, strawberries, blueberries, cereal o’s. I added a bit of *agave and ground flax for this one, but you can also use honey, fresh fruit and jam, hemp seeds, chia seeds or almond meal. Have some fun with English muffin face, your kids will love it!

2. Mater Sandwich

via Crusts and Everything

3. Elephant Sandwich

via Bento-logy

4. Turkey Sandwich

via Meet the Dubiens

5. New & Improved Square Sandwich

via Pinterest

The Lunchbox

1. Ladybug Lunchbox

2. Pirate Lunchbox

via Parent Map

3. Lots O’ Lunchboxes

via kwejk.pl 

The Veggie

1. Skeleton Veggie

via Pinterest

2. Sesame Street Veggies

via A Better Bag of Groceries

3. Bicycle Veggie

{this is especially for you Portland folks. I’m sure you could sub out the g. onions for something more kid-friendly}

via Wellsphere

The Fruit

1. Frozen Yogurt Blueberry Bites

{love these!! so easy to make}

via One Good Thing

2. Island Fruit

via Pinterest

3. Banana Sushi

My Maui mama friend posted this on Facebook and I had to ask her to share. About her banana sushi, she says: Quick, easy and delicious! Cover a banana with peanut butter, (I tried with a butter knife, but then it just got messy so I used my fingers), then roll in crispy rice cereal. Cut into little pieces and you have yummy ‘sushi’ for your kids.

Fun bento lunchbox idea —> Lunchbots

It is up to us as caretakers to impart healthy eating into our kids and I hope this little list inspires you to keep food interesting and fun. If you’ve also been inspired by other fun, food ideas or have created something on your own you want to share, leave a comment with a link to the picture and we can add to this list. ‘Adventures in Getting Kids to Eat Healthy’ isn’t always easy, but you can do it! Good luck out there!

And thanks to all of you fantastic bloggers out there for putting forth such great ideas. The world is a more creative place because of you.

Be a part of the Freshly Grown community. Like FG here on Facebook.

——

*Use high quality agave that has fructose in it’s conjugated form. If at all concerned with the use of agave, opt for organic honey from a local farmer, you can’t go wrong!