Kids Go Wild for Zoo Animal After School Snacks

My kids come home from school each day with just one thing on their mind. Before we can talk about their day or go through the backpacks to look at homework or grades, my kids want to talk “snack.” It seems as if turning pages, moving pencils and walking up and down the halls has depleted their last energy calorie. Sure, they’d love to go for something easy, like anything that comes in a bag or for my son, easy and sweet like a bowl of ice cream, seems like the quick answer.

I on the other hand want them to refuel their bodies with something smart and nutritious. If it’s true that the afternoon snack may cut into what they eat at dinner, then that afternoon snack has to have added nutrient value. Since my kids have likely enjoyed a sandwich, fruits and veggies for lunch, I have to reinvent the wheel to make whole grain bread, fruits, veggies and spreads like hummus or peanut butter more kid-friendly at afternoon snack time. More to the point, I have to let them “reinvent” these foods and I’ve found that kids just go wild for open-faced zoo animal sandwiches.

Leaping leopards, this is a smart afternoon snack.

Ingredients:

1 slice multi-grain bread 1 tablespoon of hummus 1 sprinkle of black sesame seeds 1 black olive

Directions:

Slices of bakery-baked bread already have that nice oval shape but square loaf bread can be trimmed into an oval as well. Freeze the “scraps” for breadcrumbs for another meal.

Spread the bread with hummus. Cut one black olive in half long ways. One half makes the leopards nose. Cut the remaining half in half again for two leopard eyes. Sprinkle the open-faced sandwich with black sesame seeds for a stealthy and healthy afternoon snack.

Tip: If you make your own hummus, you can add grated carrot for extra nutrition.

Kids will covet this cute Koala afternoon snack.

Ingredients:

1 slice multi-grain bread 1 tablespoon of peanut butter 2 banana slices 2 raisins 1 grape

Start with an oval slice of multi-grain bread and cover with peanut butter. Add banana slices for ears, raisins for eyes and a half grape for his cute Koala nose. Although Koalas are sleepy heads, this cute Koala afternoon snack is a tasty homemade energy bar for hungry students.

Tip: You can encourage kids to try new things to make the Koala nose like a dried apricot or date.

Brown bear, brown bear, you’ve never been so sweet.

Ingredients:

1 whole wheat English muffin half 1 tablespoon of Nutella spread 2 slices of banana 1 grape

Directions:

Cover a whole wheat English muffin with Nutella spread and your brown bear is almost there. Add two slices of banana for the ears. Cut a grape into thirds and place two fleshy side up for eyes and one skin side down for the nose. This brown bear tastes like a desert but it’s really a smart afternoon snack when the hungries attack.

Once you give kids some whole, fresh food ingredients and some starting pointers, they’ll go ape making their own zoo animal afternoon snacks and you’ll feel like the king of the jungle for taming their hunger with smart afternoon snacks.


People also view

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *