Wondering how to brighten a sick child's day? How about taking them on a picnic? Or better yet, how about bringing the outdoors into them? All you need is a few different springtime cookie cutters, a little imagination & your child's favorite sandwich ingredients.
My 5 year old Kylie loves cheese & tofu-bologna sandwiches on whole grain bread. One day when she was home sick from school, I came up with the idea of making her butterfly & bunny sandwiches & having a little indoor picnic of our own.
1. First, we lay one piece of bread on the cutting board. Then we layer our ingredients, 1 slice cheese, 2 slices veggie bologna, 1 slice cheese & then top it off with the second slice of bread.
2. Then I let her use the cookie cutters to make flower & butterfly shapes.
3. We then add fruit strips & raisins to make the eyes on the bunny, and the designs & antennae on the butterflies.
Now all you need is to pack up everything as if you really were going on a picnic. Pack a picnic basket, place a blanket on the floor, bring some juice and paper plates & she'll be having so much fun, she just might forget that she's sick!
These sandwiches work well with almost any ingredients. I serve them to Kylie with peanut butter & jelly, or even scrambled eggs & cheese for breakfast. And, of course, you can use any cookie cutters you like, but my little girl loves the idea of a springtime picnic, even if it's in the middle of January, spread out on a blanket on our living room floor!
In case you are wondering, that was not a typo. My daughter loves whole grain bread. She really does. We all know the value of eating whole grains as opposed to refined white foods, the trick is in getting your child to eat them & actually like them. That's where these little sandwiches come in .handy. When kids get to make their own food & make it fun- somehow they forget all about whether the bread is brown or white. They are having fun, & we know that they are eating right!
