Thursday 13

A number of bloggers have used "Thursday Thirteen" as a base for thier blogs. I think it's a fun idea. So here is my subject which I hope helps some of you moms who get stuck with what to feed your kids for snacks. I tend to do things that give the kids a chance to be creative and we are not afraid of messes around here. These are all tested of five kids and have been a bit hit for years.

1. I have a list inside my cupboard door of popular snacks. A huge help when my brain is not working and little mouths are saying..."I am hungry"

2. Give your toddler/preschooler a toy plastic knife. I put some cream cheese into a small plastic container. Give your child the cream cheese, knife, and a cracker or bagel. I guarantee you will have time to indulge in a cup of tear while it's still hot.

3. Grapes dipped in yogurt. Or you can give your child a clean, never been used for paint, kids paint brush and let them paint the grapes before they eat them.

4. Sliced apples with almond butter and raisins poked into them. They end up looking like little pieces of watermelon and the kids can really dig putting these together.

5. Canetelope fruit towers. Using a thin pretzel stick, poke into a slice of cantelope and then you can put sliced strawberrie, larger blue berries or any fruit over the pretzel.

6. Put some chocolate chips in a small plastic dish. Melt the chocolate in the microwave and then give your child some fresh fruit to dip, or pretzels.

7. Celery Trains. Cutting the celery into about two inch sticks, you now have a trailer for a train and we must put something in it before it goes into the tunnel (your mouth). I will have grated cheese, cream cheese, chopped nuts, dried chopped fruit such as blueberries or cranberries and let them load onto whatever cargo they want. This is a big hit.

8. Not much health in this but still fun and good. Wheat Thins and Cheez Wiz. We practice letters, spell small words, and then place a carrot or cucumber slice on top.

9. Toasted raisn bread, cut into strips and then some jam to dip into.

10. I let the kids make trail mix to fit into their own little bowl. I will have several plastic containers with spoons, so they can scoop a little of something into their own little snack dish. (fish crackers, almonds, marshmellows, raisins, dried fruit, m&m's)

11. Corn chips, grated cheese melted, and their own little plastic dish of salsa.

12. Yogurt with some crunchy cereal on it. It does not matter to my kids what kind of cereal. I will use granola or put regular cereal in a baggy and break it down to pour over thier yogurt. What is fun about this is that each child may choose what kind of crunchy cerea they want.

13. Graham crackers with "frosting". Which is really just cream cheese. I will sometimes put a drop or two of food coloring around the holidays. They love to cover thier own things and gives them lots of practice with those fine motor skills

So here is a list that keeps things interesting around here. I will often let them choose what they woudl like as I typically shop for the same things on shopping day, so we will have these things in stock. Now with the boys getting older, they take turns choosing the snack for the day. I hope this give you all some fun ways to make snack time, fun, creative, and most important, in most cases takes time for the little ones which buys me time to do things like soak in a tub. Okay not really, but I can at least drink a hot cup of something. Blessings.