Brown Bear Bento Box with Rainbow Fruit Salad
by Trish James
Enjoy this vibrant yet cozy Brown Bear Bento Box with Rainbow Fruit Salad as you snuggle up and explore the colors of the rainbow through Eric Carle’s beloved children’s book Brown Bear, Brown Bear.
Challenge your little ones to eat a fruit or vegetable that matches the color of animals on the page and find out which is their favorite!
Nutrition Tip: This fruit-packed meal is naturally low in fat, sodium, and calories, and has cholesterol.
For other Eric Carle mealtime inspiration, check out a few of our other recipes based on his books.
If you’re looking for a classic children’s book, you can’t go wrong with Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle. This simple story follows a brown bear as he goes through the world finding new friends, with each page introducing a new color and animal. The illustrations are iconic, and the text is repetitive and easy to follow – perfect for young readers.
This Bento Box is inspired by this classic, and it’s just as colorful as the book.
Brown Bear Face
To make the bear face, we used graham crackers, blueberries, and bananas. And to represent the red bird, yellow duck, blue horse, green frog, and all the other friends brown bear finds along the way, we used an assortment of fun chopped fruits and sweet peppers.
When it comes to snacks, sometimes it’s hard to think outside the box. But if you’re looking for some inspiration, why not turn to your children’s books? There are so many great options out there that are perfect for inspiring themed snacks. Aside from Brown Bear, Brown Bear, here are a few of our favorites:
If you’re looking for a fun and easy snack that the kids will love, try making ants on a log. All you need is some celery, peanut butter, and raisins. Just spread the peanut butter on the celery, top with raisins, and voila! Along with the snack, read the aptly titled book Ants on a Log by Beryl Reichenberg.
For something a little more sophisticated, try recreating the beautiful butterfly snacks from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Cut apples into thin slices and spread with nut butter or cream cheese. Top with thin slices of mango or kiwi fruit and you’ve got an adorable butterfly!
Goldilocks and the 3 Bears? Perhaps a bowl of oatmeal with fruit to represent the porridge? That sounds yummy!
Goodnight Moon? Maybe some homemade moon pies!
What snacks will you think up with your favorite children’s books?
The possibilities are endless once you open your mind to a new realm of fun foodie creativity.
How do you #PowerYourLunchbox? Show us your healthy lunchboxes on Instagram using #PowerYourLunchbox.
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Brown Bear Bento Box with Rainbow Fruit Salad
Ingredients
- 3 graham cracker squares
- 1 tablespoon soy butter
- 3 banana slices
- 9 blueberries
- 1 cup assorted chopped fruit
- 3 mini sweet peppers sliced into strips
- 1 tablespoon yogurt Ranch dressing
Instructions
- Spread soy butter on graham crackers. Arrange banana slices and blueberries to create eyes and noses.
- In another container, add your choice of colorful fruit such as raspberries, cantaloupe, pineapple, honeydew, blueberries, and blackberries to create a Rainbow Fruit Salad.
- Serve with peppers and ranch.
