Kahaani Banaao, Khaana Khilao : Snack Ideas for Indian Children

Kuch achcha khana hai. Mothers are tired of thinking what to make, how to get children to eat. It's the cycle every single mom suffers from. Snacks for kids - that's one thing we all want answers to. We want our children to eat, and eat well and nutritious food. But what we want them to eat, is what they don't want on their plate. What to do then? Kya karein?

At SheThePeople parenting, we call it storytelling-eating. Kahaani Banaao, Khaana Khilao. Now easy way is to put some video but a more fun and involving idea is to build a story together. And make them not just interested, but involved and engaged.

5 Reasons Stories at Snack Times are good for kids

1. Involvement of a deep kind between children and parents
2. Stories distract the child in a good way and trigger imagination. It makes little children enjoy the meal which is quite important for the meal itself. Food should be eaten and enjoyed and never just consumed by force.
3. Stories have a way of weaving themselves. So building from a small idea, like your sandwich or idli to making it a real story with your child will cement your relationship in different ways.
4. Stories can be built, narrated by anyone in the family. It could be a grandparent, a nanny, a didi, a dadi. It doesn't take much effort and mothers needn't feel guilty if they can be the ones leading this plan.
5. Your child's growing will be full of excellent fun times and stories during food and snack hours.

Bread Fun

With different ideas you can explore how to make bread breakfast lots of fun. From animals to shapes, it's definitely recommended playing around with sandwiches. Before I tell you more, as a mom, remember bread has traditionally been less preferred over other forms of wheat. But today, in our world, we have lots of good healthier options than factory-made breads for children. If you have access to a bakery, be sure to get multi grain breads or whole wheat ones or ragi based ones. These can be very good and at par with other options. Plus you will in any case play around with lots of different meals so bread a few times a week makes for great options for little kids.

Sandwich Snacks Your Kids Will Love

Visually children love to have their food experimented with. It takes just a bit of playing around in the kitchen for you to try something new. With standard, everyday vegetables and fruits, make some delicious and healthy sandwiches with a slight twist. This one is grand-dad grumpo. We have showed its eyed shut, you can open them. Suit yourself, see what you have and play around.

In our kitchen we always keep a pair of scissors handy at all times and use it to shape the food, quickly and in a fun way. Snip and cut any vegetable, any way you want it. For the bread, don't worry about having shape cutters. In fact we never recommend having to buy anything.

A story to make up and have fun with? What did the egg say to the sandwich? And then rattle on with your child on the possibilities.

Doggies are the favourite of little ones. Because one of the early books kids get are of matching animals with their offsprings. So make that a theme for snacks and play around. Don't feel restricted to do certain shapes, or flowers. You can try a bow tie, you can try a circle or just dots and dots. Open the fridge, or the drawer, see your best options and use only those.

This snack can be made in different ways. You can try a bread, a toast, a pan cake, a dosa, a dal dosa or whatever you want. These are excellent and quick options. Kids like chocolate spreads, some like jam. If you are keeping the total sugar levels of your child under control then make snacks sweet sometime. This toast is simply fun, full of energy, some form of chocolate but fruit and raisins thrown in. Some times, puree of a fruit with chocolate is also great.

Time for animal kingdom? Some of us have slightly heavier snacks for our kids in the evening. You can try mini sliders and burgers. Here we have a little boiled vegetables (they can also be sauteed) and in the centre is a little tikki or patty. Options are many. Kaccha kela or raw banana, ragi and keema, beet root, carrots and oats - your options for the centre burger are totally customisable to your taste, and what you want your child to eat. Eyes are eggs and look at that bow tie! Priceless. You can replace corn with pomegranate seeds or peas. Go with what you have, and what you want your child to eat.

Idlis are great fun and make for excellent stories. Like these two here. We named them, Googoo and Poogoo. And start creating a dialogue among them. The same humble idli now gets an identity and your children start thinking of whether to eat Googoo or pick Poogoo. What did Googoo say to Poogoo? Come hug me. Or it takes two to dance, takes two to clap etc.

Idlis make for a wonderful backstory. How rice is grown, how it is soaked and then we blend it to make a batter. Batter batter, chatter chatter, idlis friends go clatter clatter. Anything that works for you will be fun for kids. Don't stress. Sometimes you can use cookie cutters to shape idlis too. It is considered a most wholesome snack.

You love this one? We love it too. Imagine the possibilities? Palm trees and oasis? A bushy people tree if you feel some other greens. It could be beanstalk with green beans. Also orange trees if your kid loves oranges and colours.

We called these parantha patties. And they are a sure shot hit. The paranthas can be many. Here are some options.

• Peas parantha
• Beetroot parantha
• Pumpkin parantha
• Mixed veg parantha
• Aloo parantha
• Mix aloo, with some shakargandi or sweet potato and use for paranthas.

Your fillings can also be many. Here are some easy options.

• Cheese filling
• Paneer filling
• Zucchini and paneer bhurji
• Grated mixed veg with cheese

We recommend keep the filling a little light so the children doesn't feel its something they don't want. So those are some excellent snacks for kids. Make it fun. Food should be a great experience.

Kahaani Banaao, Khaana Khilao : Snack Ideas for Indian Children.