Cute lunch check-in

brightning · June 2012

Before we get to the lunches, here's a peak at a theme day that we did this week:

When DD was younger, we used to do theme days all the time. I decided to do a penguins and polar bears theme the other day and she had SO MUCH FUN, so we'll definitely be doing them more often. This theme day was a surprise (and I didn't think of it until the night before, so not much planning went into it). DD woke up to this breakfast (those papers are printed mazes) letting her know it was a special day. We called breakfast "icebergs and Arctic circles." The flag is made from masking tape and a toothpick. And yes, we talked about how penguins and polar bears live on opposite poles.

The night before, I got out all of our polar toys, so she played with those for a bit. Also, the games Pengoloo (love this one!) and Don't Break the Ice. We also read the book Emperor's Egg. Then, I let her watch some Chilly Willy cartoons on YouTube.

More ice play! I froze water in a plastic tray and DD and a friend played with this. We do this fairly often and it's always fun. It's just as fun when it's melted!

For a project, she made igloos out of office supply stickers, then cut out some bears. She liked this part a lot - the white crayons were a hit, too.

Polar lunch - banana, snap peas, polar bear PB and honey sandwich, goldfish, cheesy penguin, plus a few "snow cap" chocolates and snowflake sprinkles. She ate all this and a huge bowl of watermelon.

I also printed out a tutorial on how to draw a penguin, which was a hit. I had planned to make a polar bear from a paper plate and to watch a penguin movie, but ran out of time. And I forgot to take a picture of it, but for dinner we had beef and SNOW pea stir fry with white rice, to complete our theme day. Overall, this was a REALLY fun day for both of us (plus we invited a friend over to join in the fun) and I will definitely be doing more theme days this summer. It really didn't take that much work - I didn't start planning until 7 p.m. the night before - and it made for a wonderful day. Try it sometime!

Miniature-themed lunch. Raspberries and a cheese stick, mini donut and strawberries, "petite" baby carrots and cashews, plus mini BLTs on picks (cut using our FunBites cutter - love this). I can guarantee you that the only reason she ate her BLT was because it was cut into teensy squares on put on picks.

DD loves PB and honey sandwiches lately, so a Pooh Bear lunch seemed fitting. Homemade sealed sandwich with a cheese cut-out on top, tomatoes with bee picks, snap peas, carrots, a few yogurt pretzels and a bowl (refilled twice!) of watermelon with a little sprinkling of salt (yum!).

Frog lunch. Homemade sealed sandwich, leftover green beans, carrots, cheese stick, a few green M&Ms and some watermelon. I also taught DD the song "Five Green and Speckled Frogs," which I guess she's never heard before. Oh my! She's been singing it nonstop ever since!

I wasn't going to take a picture of this but DD insisted. A super speedy Elmo lunch. Cucumber eyes (I should have put two blueberries on there for pupils!), baby carrots, puzzle sandwiches, snap peas and some leftover star spaghetti. Done in less than 5 minutes!

This was sort of a sky theme, but mostly a "fridge is empty" theme. Watermelon, yogurt with starry sky sprinkles, snap peas, leftover starry spaghetti and a tomato balloon - the "string" is a pick.

And one final food-related thing. We've made these suncatchers before but a friend reminded me about them so we made them again. So fun and they're adorable in the window! Paper plates with the centers cut out, and clear Contact paper, tissue paper, glitter glue and a few sequins in the middle.