There are many days that I make a lunch for the kids and cringe as I reluctantly throw most of it into the garbage. They are just not interested. Ugh! What a waste. How could I get them to eat their sandwiches and prevent the wasteful cycle? Bust out the play-dough tools!! Yup you heard me right!
My kids have a pretty fancy selection of play-dough tools. I ran a few through the dishwasher to sanitize, and now they are kitchen tools that I use almost daily! The stars and circles are their favorites.
They have always liked peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, or peanut butter and marshmallow fluff, but now they gobble them up before I can put them on their plates!
There must be something fun about popping a little star shape into their mouth. When I asked Kyle why he likes them so much he said “because they are soft, awesome, and cool”! Guess that explains it! I’m telling you – these are a great way to get your picky eater excited about lunchtime, and an even better way to serve sloppy PB & J sammys on the go. I often fill a little container that is easy for them to hold with these little sandwiches if we have to eat on the go! No mess, no stops at fast-food joints, and no complaints!
Hints: Use the marshmallow fluff sparingly if they aren’t going to eat them right away, it tends to expand a little.
Worried about the waste (the stuff you don’t cut into fun shapes)? Oddly my kids love to help cut out there sandwiches and ALWAYS eat the rest of the sandwich at the cutting board! I usually get about 9-10 little sandwiches from a normal sized slice of bread.
This works well for cheese and meat too, just don’t make them too thick.
Happy Lunchtime!