Fun home activities for kids

Want some fun ideas for spending time at home with your kids? If you want to be creative and invite your kids to help, here are three of our favorite kid-friendly recipes and home-grown activities.

• • Make these simple, 3-ingredient cookies .
• • Print out this crossword puzzle and test your fruit and vegetable knowledge.

• • Grow your own herbs indoors together.
• • Halloween may be months away, but these treats are fun to make year-round. We love the cheesy crawlers!

• • Make this simple and tasty strawberry frozen yogurt . All you need is frozen strawberries, Greek yogurt, and honey! Follow the recipe here .

Kid-Friendly Veggies and Fruits

• • Homemade Trail Mix: Use your favorite nuts and dried fruits, such as unsalted peanuts, cashews, walnuts, or sunflower seeds mixed with dried apples, pineapple, cherries, apricots, or raisins. Add whole-grain cereals to the mix, too.
• • Bugs on a Log: Use celery, cucumber, or carrot sticks as the log and add peanut butter. Top with dried fruit such as raisins, cranberries, or cherries, depending on what bugs you want!

• • Frosty Fruits: Frozen treats are bound to be popular in the warm months. Just put fresh fruits such as melon chunks in the freezer (rinse first). Make “popsicles” by inserting sticks into peeled bananas (or other fruit) and freezing.
• • Caterpillar Kebabs: Assemble chunks of melon, apple, orange, and pear on skewers for a fruity kabob. For a raw veggie version, use vegetables like zucchini, cucumber, squash, sweet peppers, or tomatoes.

• • Delicious Dippers: Kids love to dip their foods. Whip up a quick dip for veggies with yogurt and seasonings such as herbs or garlic. Serve with raw vegetables like broccoli, carrots, or cauliflower. Fruit chunks go well with yogurt and cinnamon or vanilla dip.

Written by Taylor Newman, Ph.D. Candidate | Edited by Laurel Sanville, MS, RDN, LD