20 Ways to Use Fun Food Art to Inspire Kids to Eat Healthier All Year Round

Since I have been working with children for almost the entire time that I’ve been vegan–well, cooking food, really–I’ve learned how to inspire kids to eat healthy through my passion for food and animals. As an after-school program supervisor, I started a “cooking club” with the group of forty children that I spent so much time with every day. We’d make amazingly healthy, beautiful, and delicious creations, that both my fellow adult supervisors and the kids enjoyed equally. Many of the recipes we made during cooking club are included below: my edamame hummus and kale salad were both hits, as was our panini day (featuring vegan cheddar and vegan mozzarella cheese), our Iron Chef guacamole and salsa competition, and the vegan tofu chocolate pudding we whipped up to celebrate the last day of school. Something that I’ve learned from working with kiddos for so many years is that few things give them more pleasure than creating something and destroying it, and in many ways, that’s what art is all about: creating something new, even if that means destroying something old. I see that as an interesting, multidimensional metaphor for food: as vegans, we have to give up and reinvent some our favorite comfort foods – like pizza, fried chicken, and (what used to be my favorite) filet mignon. We get to create something beautiful and nutritious – and then literally consume it. So making food art gives us the unique opportunity to allow our children to do what love the most while also creating a nutritious, edible destruction.

Food Art ideas to make year-round

1. Agricultural Fair with Prizes 

Every summer, the town of Tisbury in Martha’s Vineyard, an island off of Cape Cod, hosts an agricultural fair. Outside you’ll find kids spinning around on ferris wheels, classic carnival food with a Martha’s Vineyard twist (i.e., lobster rolls and crab cake burgers), and a tent full of goats, sheep, llamas, and alpacas (weirdly enough). Inside of an enormous wooden barn, you’ll find paintings, quilts, photographs, plump heirloom tomatoes and elaborately spiraled cucumbers, and best of all, food art. The winners of the first and second place ribbons for the food art category this year were both kids. One of them created a man made of garden-fresh organic Japanese eggplants, and the other made a mouse made of squash.

Moral of the story? Food art is genius. Kids get to create beautiful art, take pictures of their art, destroy it, and then eat it (in a healthy manner!). Just slice up those eggplants and squashes, marinate them in balsamic vinegar, and throw them on the grill for a couple minutes, and you’ve got yourself some healthy art-turned-food! 

2.  Writing Handmade Recipe Books

Making handmade books is a timeless activity for both children and adults. I’ve been making poetry chapbooks for a couple of years now, and often like to make journals out of fabric, string, and used paper bags (from the grocery store). My family and I use the recipe book that my siblings and I created when we were little to make our annual Christmas breakfast.

Here’s a simple and fun way to make a book out of paper bags; an idea I came up with in 2011 when I made my first poetry chapbook:

Tools & Materials:

• 1 paper bag
• string
• card stock
• text paper
• colored end sheets

Cut one side of the paper bag into a rectangle the size of your choice, and fold in half. Fold the pages, using the text paper, as well – making sure to find the natural grain.

 3. Edible Play Dough

What could be more fun than edible play dough? This is an excellent little snack to give your littlest ones who are just using to learn how to use their fingers. A quick google search will show you the dangers of some commercial play doughs that contain ingredients that are toxic to humans, including Boric Acid. 

You can find tons of recipes on Pinterest, but here’s an adorable vegan oatmeal play dough recipe from Mama Pea Pod:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup water
• food coloring

Mix the dry ingredients first. Then add water and food coloring gradually. Knead to preferred consistency.

4. Oven-Baked Decorative Pizzas

I’m a true believer that pizza is art, but maybe that’s because I’m Italian. What kid doesn’t like pizza, and choosing their favorite toppings to put on it? First, start with choosing a vegan crust that sounds yummy to you. Then, pick your favorite toppings. OGP has an excellent guide to work from.

Feel free to be creative! I’m from a family of five kids (+significant others) and when we are all home, my mom insists that we make pizzas together. When she was gluten free, we made gluten free and vegan crusts. I, for one, love pineapple, mushrooms, and roasted garlic on pizza. Bottom line: be artistic and eat healthy!

FALL Food Art Ideas

5. Carved Jack-O-Lanterns with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds 

Well, there are certain things you just don’t get too old for. The Halloween after I graduated from college, my (fellow 20-something male) friends and I went to the pumpkin patch (okay, so maybe we went to a grocery store) to pick up some jack-o-lanterns to carve. We had a blast making some epic creations, but the best part? We saved our pumpkin seeds, washed them and tossed them with a couple of tablespoons of tamari (gluten free soy sauce), and baked them at 350 degrees on a baking sheet in the oven while we carved. So, we had a healthy snack to munch on while making some art! The jack-o-lanterns were amazing–we had characters from Adventure Time (a kid’s cartoon on Cartoon Network) and a fairy princess made by yours truly–even if the squirrels got to them by the next morning – but if they hadn’t, who knows, we could’ve made some pumpkin soup!

6. Thanksgiving Pot Pie with Decorative Puff Pastry Leaves 

I’ve been making my vegan pot pie for the past four Thanksgivings, and it is always a hit. My favorite part, however, is after I’ve poured the filling into the baking dish and top it with puff pastry – because my siblings and I always use an extra sheet to carve out leaves, top hats, and turkeys to put on the pie. A beautiful, fun, interactive meal!

Here’s my recipe for Veggie Pot Pie:

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon vegan butter 
  
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 oz package cremini mushrooms, destemmed and quartered
• 2-3 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 2 cups almond milk
• 2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 6 sheets vegan puff pastry

Directions:

Thaw puff pastry according to package directions (usually 50 min at room temperature).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In large pot, saute onion and carrot in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, potatoes, and garlic and saute 8-10 minutes longer. Add 2 tablespoons of flour gradually and carefully while sautéing. Add almond milk, tamari, poultry seasoning, thyme, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes (until mixture is thick and vegetables are tender). Add peas and cook for one minute longer.

Pour mixture into a rectangular, deep glass baking dish. Cover with puff pastry sheets- including those you’ve carved into leaves and other fall decorations-and bake for 30-35 minutes or until puff pastry is golden brown on the edges.

7. Happy Fall Lanterns With Happy Turkey Food

I feel like I didn’t go a single Thanksgiving throughout elementary school without making some sort of turkey art, and I’m a big fan of that. We don’t always have to eat the turkey – we can honor it! These happy fall-colored lanterns are super fun. Making the lanterns is a family activity, and then you can hide them before the big day, fill them with a vegan Thanksgiving entrée or hors d’oeuvre, and surprise your guests!

Tools & Materials:

• 5 sheets of colored construction or text paper (red, orange, yellow, brown, green)
• scissors
• stapler
• yarn
• 20 bulb LED Christmas lights

Directions

1. Cut the sheets of colored paper into 2″ by 8″ strips (or however long your paper is).

2. Staple the ends of each strip to form rings.

3. Create a sphere with the rings by pulling one ring through the other so they are perpendicular and touching at the top and bottom, with equal space in between. Fill in that space with more rings until you’ve created a sphere.

4. If desired, weave through Christmas lights and plug into the wall. Staple a piece of yarn from the top if you’d like it to be a lantern!

5. Fill with some yummy vegan snacks! Check out OGP’s guide to our favorite childhood snacks. 

8. Healthy Gingerbread Houses  

My mother always insists that my siblings and I make gingerbread houses the weekend after Thanksgiving to prepare for the holidays. Gingerbread houses are pretty much the epitome of food art, and who can think of a better festive activity for the holiday season?!

Here’s a Healthy Holiday Gingerbread House to start with:

For the house itself:

• vegan graham crackers
• OGP’s vegan Pumpkin Buttercream Icing (to construct the house)

Decoration Ideas:

• Dried fruit (cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, mangoes, bananas, apricots, figs)
• Nuts (pecans, walnuts, peanuts, almonds, cashews)
• Seeds (sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds)
• Pretzel sticks
• Coconut flakes
• Popcorn
• Fresh thyme or rosemary

WINTER Food Art Ideas

9. Snow Globe Spice Shakers 

This art activity is fun and simple, and also adorable. Just pick your favorite spice blends (I like the following: curry, turmeric, & coriander; paprika, cumin, & cayenne pepper; cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground ginger), and put them in these amazing handmade decorative snow globes from Apartment Therapy:

Tools & Materials:

• A jar of your choice (with a lid)
• Figurines or jewelry
• Anti-rust sealant for metal pieces
• Clear-drying epoxy
• Distilled water
• Dash of glycerin
• Large silver or white glitter

Directions:

1. Use clear-drying epoxy to adhere your piece to the inside of the lid. Let dry per epoxy instructions.

2. After the epoxy dries completely, fill your jar with distilled or boiled water (after it cools).

3. Add just a dash of glycerin so the faux snow falls slowly like we all love!

4. Add as much glitter as you like. If you don’t like the look of glitter, you can usually find faux snow at craft stores. 5. Screw your lid on tightly and shake away!

10. Christmas Tree of Food

Why not decorate your Christmas tree with food? Just fill some empty (small) mason jars with your favorite spice blends and cover with corks. Then, tie a string a ribbon (give yourself a good amount) around the rim of the mason jar with a knot, and then tie another knot at the end of the string to make a circle. Now, you can hang your spices from your Christmas tree!

Tools & Materials:

• small glass mason jars
• ribbon or string

Recommendations for spice combinations:

• paprika, cumin, cayenne & chili powder
• turmeric, curry, coriander & ground ginger
• cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom & sea salt
• oregano, basil & parsley
• rosemary, thyme & sage

11. Handmade Holiday Snack Bags

The Holidays are a time to give – whether to those we love, or those we don’t know who are less fortunate for us. Making little holiday snack gift bags is an excellent art activity for the winter, and gives kids the chance to give back, create, and also, well, eat. Just sew two pieces of fabric together, making sure one piece is longer than the other, and leave a pouch (so, sewing only 3 sides). Glue some velcro or a magnet on the end of the longer piece of fabric, close, and glue another piece of velcro of a magnet on the opposite attracting side. Fill with some yummy snacks! Again, check out OGP’s guide to our favorite childhood snacks.

12. Food Pyramid Snowman

When the first snow rolls around, why not turn it into a food lesson? I mean, we have to feed the snowmen, for goodness sake! Pretend the snowmen that your family creates all need to eat a plant-based vegan diet, and have a fun (and chilly) outdoor picnic with your handmade snow friends. A perfect way to spend a snow day if the kids can’t go to school!

SPRING Food Art Ideas

13. Interactive Rainbow Garden

My family and I had a garden growing up, that my grandfather tended to; so I always wanted to have a garden of my own. Post-college, I lived in a house with a (very small) yard, and my roommates and I just bought some starter plants from the Home Depot to fill it with – that is, after it stopped snowing (in May). We got zucchini, basil, mint, cucumbers, a variety of tomatoes, and jalapeños. Tending to my little garden was an excellent lesson in nurturing and cultivation, which is great to instill in kids as early as possible. Plus, making a rainbow colored garden is a fun art project, with delicious results.

14.  Edible Handmade Bouquet of Colorful Fruit  

Make a beautiful bouquet of fruits that peak in Springtime—oranges, peas, tomatoes, strawberries, zucchini blossoms—chop them up into a salad, and eat!

Toss with some raspberry dressing:

• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• ½ cup raspberries
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Using a food processor or blender, blend shallot, ginger, and raspberry until smooth. Add lemon juice and pulse. Gradually pour the olive oil over the top to emulsify. Season with salt and pepper and toss fruits with beans, quinoa, nuts, or seeds if desired.

15. Edible Handmade Bouquet of Spring Greens

Make a beautiful bouquet of fruits that peak in springtime —artichokes, asparagus, green beans, cauliflower, leeks, lettuces—chop them up into a salad, and eat!

Toss with some avocado dressing:

Ingredients

• 1 clove garlic
• 1 jalapeño, seeds removed
• 1 avocado, halved, pitted, sliced, and scooped
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• a few dashes hot sauce

Directions

Drop garlic into a food processor and mince. Scrape down sides, add jalapeño, and mince again. Add avocado, olive oil, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, and hot sauce. Pulse to combine. Pour dressing over salad, toss, and serve. Toss veggies with beans, quinoa, nuts, or seeds if desired.

16. Cinco de Mayo Iron Chef Guacamole and Salsa Competition

I, for one, think guacamole and salsa are beautiful inventions. If someone handed me an empty museum tomorrow, I’d probably fill it with pictures and paintings and sculptures of guacamole and salsa. So why not make a competition out of it?! When I worked as an after school program supervisor at an elementary school, we had a Cinco de Mayo “Iron Chef” competition in which 2 teams made both guacamole and salsa. Two judges came in blind folded and tasted all four with some tortilla chips, and chose their favorite!

Ingredients: Mango Guacamole

• 3 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted, and diced (make sure to save the pits if you are putting in the fridge, to keep the avocados from turning brown)
• 1 ripe mango, peeled and diced*
• 2 tomatillos, husked and diced
• 1/2 cup jicama, peeled and diced (radishes, firmly ripe peaches, or nectarines will work well if you can’t find jicama)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground/cracked black pepper

Directions

Add diced mango, tomatillos, jicama, and minced garlic to a bowl. Add avocado and mash together. Whisk together lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl, pour over guacamole and mash again. Serve, or cover and chill in the fridge with the avocado pit.

Ingredients: Strawberry Pineapple Salsa 

• 4 ripe fresh tomatoes, diced
• 3/4 cup fresh pineapple, diced
• 5-7 de-stemmed strawberries, diced
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh mint
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• salt & pepper

Directions

Chop up all ingredients and combine in a small bowl. Mix, season to taste with salt and pepper, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend.  Mix again before serving.

SUMMER Food Art Ideas

17. Tomatillo Husk Wind Chimes with Tomatillo Salsa

I saw a wind chime made of tomatillos once, but I forget where. Anyway, I thought it was a genius idea, so I made one this past summer. All you need to do is poke some holes in the husks with a pushpin, use string to link the husks together, decorate it however you want, and hang it from the ceiling or porch. Voila! Beautiful.

Aaaand, you can make some amazing tomatillo salsa with the tomatillos themselves . Save the husks for the wind chimes, and munch of some salsa or gazpacho while you create them!

Here’s my recipe for Tomatillo Avocado Gazpacho:

Ingredients:

• 5 tomatillos
• 1 avocado
• 3 green onions
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 cucumber
• 1 jalapeño
• 1 tablespoon fresh chives
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
• ¼ cup lime juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• sea salt to taste
• dash of hot sauce

Chop tomatillos, saving the husks for the wind chimes. Chop green onions, cucumber, jalapeño, chives, and cilantro.

Using a food processor or blender, mince garlic. Add fruits and vegetables, and avocado (saving the pit) and pulse to combine. Gradually pour in lime juice, olive oil, and red wine vinegar and pulse to combine – until desired texture is reached. Season to taste with sea salt and hot sauce and let chill in the fridge for at least one hour with the avocado pit to allow flavors to blend. Top with some cilantro and a drizzle of olive oil for garnish.

18. Super Duper Picnic Pack with Handmade Tablecloths 

In the summer, I like to go on picnics at least once a week – so I can escape the city, explore the outdoors, and eat some delicious goodies while I’m at it. Whether it’s overlooking the sun set over the mountains, breakfast on the beach, or just in my backyard, picnics are my happy place.

An excellent and easy way to make handmade tablecloths is to stitch together some old scarves or bandanas that you (or your pet) don’t wear anymore. Pick 9 2’x-3′ bandanas or scarves {rectangular is okay), run them through the wash, and then stitch them together into a square or rectangular blanket, using a needle and thread or a sewing machine if you have one. Easy peasy! And don’t forget to bring your furry friends with you on your picnic. Make some dog and human friendly treats to go along, like these Crunchy Spiced Chickpeas from my blog (just go VERY light on the sea salt and spices if you’re sharing with your dog, and for future reference, avoid giving him or her these foods). According to The Daily Puppy, chickpeas are an excellent source of fiber and protein for pups, and I can vouch that my dog and I love them.

19. More S’mores 

Even better than a picnic is a picnic on a camping trip at an amazing campsite. And, of course, a camping trip isn’t a camping trip without some s’mores by the fire (unless there’s a fire ban in your state…). Here’s an awesome link to Vegan S’mores on OGP: Ooey Gooey Vegan S’mores. Get your s’mores on!

 20. Food Photo Contest  

Who doesn’t love a photo contest?! Photography is an amazing art form nowadays, especially with graphic design on the rise. And taking pictures of your completed homemade meals is gratifying and exciting experience. Different suggestions for categories: most colorful, healthiest, most beautiful presentation, yummiest.

I hope that you and your family have a wonderful time making amazing creations with these super fun, nutritious and delicious food art ideas, especially now that the holidays are coming up. My boyfriend, my dog, and I plan on picking out our Christmas tree for our new apartment tomorrow, and I know I plan on making some spice shaker ornaments and snow globes tomorrow to decorate! We’ll see what delicious and beautiful vegan recipes come out of our adventure – maybe we will share with our Daisy dog!

Easy Ways to Help the Planet:

• Eat Less Meat: Download Food Monster, the largest plant-based Recipe app on the App Store, to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy. You can also buy a hard or soft copy of our favorite vegan cookbooks or browse through vegan recipes on One Green Planet.
• Adopt-a-Pet: Visit WildWatchers, a watchdog platform specifically designed for animal, earth, and wildlife warriors to actively give back, rescue, and protect animals and the planet.
• Reduce Your Fast Fashion Footprint: Stand against fast fashion Pollution by supporting circular brands like Tiny Rescue, which create cause-based collections using recycled, zero-waste clothing designed to be returned and remade, ensuring it never ends up in a landfill.
• Shop Sustainably for Your Home: Visit SustaiNOBLE.org, an eco-friendly and ethically sourced home decor store that will empower your home with luxurious fair-trade, and sustainable products made by global artisans.
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