• I know we all grew up being told to never play with our food. Sometimes I think that is why I encourage my kids to play with theirs as often as possible. I don’t think I have encouraged any little piggies a la the Christmas Story, but I think a healthy dose of play encourages kids to eat better. Which is why every now and again, I try to let my kids be kids. This time, for snack we wanted toast. Toast and cheese. Not too exciting, right? Wrong! This snack doubles as craft time and snack time.

    When everyone is finished painting their masterpieces, you can toast as you normally would

    Get out your food coloring and some milk. In small bowls mix a few tablespoons of milk with a few drops of food coloring. Using a paintbrush have your kids paint their slices of bread. We have paint brushes that I use just on food, and with food safe paints. If you don’t have any, you should get some! My kids love to cover every inch of their slices of bread. When everyone is finished painting their masterpieces, you can toast as you normally would. Sometimes I will paint designs on bread without the kids noticing and make them grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. The wow and surprise factor can simply not be beat!

    For breakfast you can also consider letting your kids paint their waffles.

    When they are done painting, grab some fresh fruit and whipped cream. Paint a rainbow and use the whipped cream for clouds, blueberries for rain drops. What a fun way to start the day!

    Even some sugar cookies can be painted this way before or after they are baked. In the world of food, presentation is everything (other than taste, of course!). So sit your little artists down and treat them to a Van Gogh Sandwich.