Making Snack Time Fun

Make snack time fun with these playful ideas from Disney's Family Fun site.

Strawberry Mice

Instructions:

1. For each mouse, slice a small section from the side of a strawberry so it sits flat.

2. Press a mini chocolate chip into the tip for a nose, using a small dab of icing to secure it in place, if needed.

3. Add icing eyes and stick 2 almond slivers into the top of the berry for ears.

4. For a tail, use a toothpick to carve a small hole in the back of the berry and push the end of a piece of licorice lace into the hole. Serve these berry cute treats with small triangles of cheese.

Funky Fruit Snack

Looking for a fun way to get kids to eat more fruit? Give your child's after-school snack an appealing twist with a homemade hybrid.

Ingredients

• Any kind of fruit of relatively the same size
• OPTIONS
• Apples

• Pears
• Oranges

Instructions

1. Slice two pieces of fruit that are relatively the same size and alternately stack the pieces, as shown.

A Very Tasty Caterpillar

Your child can't help the famously ravenous caterpillar turn into a butterfly, but she can help him metamorphose into a pizza! Shaping and topping dough are perfect jobs for a (supervised) young chef.

Ingredients

• Store-bought pizza dough (half a bag)
• 2 white button mushrooms, sliced
• Olive oil for brushing

• Toppings, such as peppers, carrots, olives, fresh basil, and pepperoni
• Sauce of your choice (we used both pesto and tomato)
• Mozzarella (we cut deli-style slices into disks with a biscuit cutter)

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 400 F. Lay a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet so that it extends slightly beyond each end. If needed, let the dough rise according to the package directions. Divide the dough into 15 one-inch balls and combine 3 balls to make the head. Have your child dust her hands with flour, then let her arrange the balls on the cookie sheet and flatten them slightly with her palms.

2. Press the mushroom slices under the dough for legs, as shown. Brush the dough and mushrooms with olive oil, then bake until the dough is starting to crisp around the edges, about 10 minutes.

3. While the dough bakes, create the caterpillar features from your choice of toppings. We used green peppers and carrots.

4. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven. Using the parchment paper as a carrier, lift the caterpillar off the cookie sheet and set it on a wire rack. When it's cool enough for your child to touch, let her paint the surface with sauce and arrange the Mozzarella and toppings. Again using the parchment, set the caterpillar back on the cookie sheet and bake it until the cheese is just starting to brown, about 8 minutes. Let it cool slightly, slice, and serve.

Images provided by http://familyfun.go.com/recipes. Copywrite protected.