ABCs Theme
ABC Cinnamon Breadsticks
Ingredients: Dough (already made from the store), butter, sugar and cinnamon
Directions: Roll out dough in rolls and then cut and shape into letters. Bake, following dough baking directions on package. Brush on butter and sprinkle on cinnamon and sugar.
Letter Sandwiches
Ingredients: Alphabet cereal, bread, peanut butter
Directions: Spread peanut butter on a piece of bread or toast and help pick out letters from the cereal to spell child's name.
Additional Snack Ideas
Apple juice or cider
Applesauce
APPLE JACKS™ served in little cups
Bananas
Banana Bread
Cheerios™
Numbers Theme
Cheese and crackers
Ingredients: Aerosol cheese and crackers
Directions: Make numbers out of aerosol cheese when spreading it onto the crackers.
Smores Crackers
Ingredients: Graham crackers, mini marshmallows, chocolate chips.
Directions: Lay the graham crackers out on a cookie sheet. Have each child count out 10 marshmallows and 10 chocolate chips and put them on top of the cracker. Stick pan in the broiler for 1 or 2 minutes. Eat when cooled.
Serve finger foods that are easy to count:
Cheerios™
Goldfish™
Pretzels
Cars and Trucks Theme
Tortilla Wheels
Ingredients: Tortilla, refried beans, shredded lettuce, cheese, (Spanish rice-optional) Directions: Spread refried beans on a tortilla. Add a small amount of Spanish rice, shredded lettuce, and cheese. Next, take the tortilla and roll it up tightly. Finally, cut the "roll" into slices or ‘wheels’. Make them the perfect size for little fingers!
More wheel ideas:
OREO™ cookies
RITZ™ crackers with peanut butter and jelly in between
Serve stoplights:
Make stop and go lights out of red and green JELL-O®
M& M's™ (red, yellow, green)
Farm Animals Theme
Feed mix
Ingredients: Pretzels, corn chips, CORN POPS®, other grain cereals
Directions: Combine in a pan and serve in Dixie™ cups.
Pigs in a Blanket
Ingredients: Hot dogs, refrigerated crescent rolls, and condiments.
Directions: Roll the hot dogs inside the uncooked crescent rolls. Place on cookie sheet and bake as directed. To "feed" the pigs, put some ketchup, mustard or barbecue sauce on the plate for dipping.
Purple Cows
Ingredients: Milk and grape juice
Directions: Pour half milk and half grape juice in a clear cup and serve.
Bugs Theme
Worms in Mud:
Ingredients: Gummy worms and chocolate pudding.
Directions: You can mix the two and serve in pudding bowls, or serve separately and let the children dip the worms into the mud (pudding) themselves.
Ladybug Graham Crackers
Ingredients: Graham crackers, cream cheese, red sugar (sugar and red food coloring), and chocolate chips.
Directions: Spread the cream cheese over the graham cracker, then draw out a peace sign using a toothpick or utensil for the back, wings, and head. Color sugar by pouring it into a Ziploc® bag and dropping a drop of red food coloring in and then shake it. Use the chocolate chips to fill in the head and spots on the wings.
Colors Theme
Fruit Cup
Ingredients: Red-Apple, Orange-Orange, Yellow-Pears, Green- Melon, Blue-Blueberry, Purple-Grapes
Directions: Wash and cut fruit and serve.
*Optional-add vanilla or flavored yogurt along with granola for a more tasteful snack.
Other colorful snack ideas
Fruit ROLL-UPS™
Froot Loops™
Popsicles
Day and Night Theme
Sun Biscuits
Ingredients: Refrigerator biscuits, raspberry jam, butter if desired.
Directions: Pat each biscuit into small circles. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Make rays for the sun by pressing a plastic knife into the dough. Press your thumb into the center of each biscuit and add a drop of raspberry jam into the middle. Follow biscuit-baking directions on the package. Cool and eat.
Moon Snacks
Ingredients: Rice cakes and cream cheese
Directions: Spread cream cheese on the rice cakes to make moons.
Trains Theme
Twinkie Trains
Ingredients: Store bought Twinkies, marshmallows, and M&M’s.
Directions: Serve Twinkies as trains. Use a marshmallow for the smoke
stack, and m&m’s as the wheels. If desired, use additional frosting to help attach the decorations.
Marshmallow Trains
Ingredients: Marshmallows and pretzel sticks
Directions: Use pretzel sticks to hook the "cars" together to
make a train.
Train Cookies
Ingredients: Sugar cookies and colored frostings
Directions: Bake train shaped sugar cookies. Provide several different
colored frosting to decorate, The children will enjoy designing their
own train cookies.
Sea Animals Theme
Fish Snack
Ingredients: Pretzel sticks, Goldfish™ crackers, peanut butter, blue napkins, and Dixie™ cups. Directions: Tie the napkin around the cup. (The napkin is the ocean.) Put a spoonful of peanut butter in the cup and pour in the fish. Stick the pretzels along the sides to be used for fishing rods. Let the children catch the fish and eat.
Fish in the Ocean Snack
Ingredients: Blue JELL-O® and gummy fish.
Directions: Make blue JELL-O® and add gummy fish to it. Children love to see the fish wiggle or swim in the JELL-O®.
Aquariums
Ingredients: Blue icing, graham crackers, and gummy fish.
Directions: Spread blue icing on graham crackers and top with the gummy fish.
Food Theme
Vegetable Tray
Ingredients: A variety of vegetables, and dip if desired
Directions: Wash and cut up an assortment of vegetables, and include some that children may not have tasted before. Allow them to try different kinds.
Fruit Salad
Ingredients: canned peaches, pears, pineapples, apples, bananas, and vanilla yogurt
Directions: cut fruit into bite sizes, combine in a bowl, add yogurt, and mix. Serve in small bowls and enjoy this healthy snack.
Provide appetizers offering a variety of different types of foods for children to try.
Music and Dance Theme
Sugar Cookies
Ingredients: Any sugar cookie recipe and musical cookie cutters.
Directions: Use cookie cutters to cut out musical instrument shapes. Frost if desired.
Plants and Nature Theme
Bagel Nest
Ingredients: Mini bagels, cream cheese, and raisins.
Directions: Spread the cream cheese on the bagels and let the children lay the eggs (raisins) on the top.
Peanut Butter Caterpillars
Ingredients: 1 cup peanut butter, 2 cups instant oatmeal, and 2 cups instant dry milk powder.
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Roll out the caterpillars and refrigerate, then serve once chilled.
