One way to get kids to eat their vegetables? Turn healthy fruits and veg into fun finger food with these chatty vegetable bug snacks! First, assemble veggies into cute critters: you’ll find directions below for a ladybug, a mouse eating a piece of cheese, a very hungry caterpillar, and two different types of snails scooting as fast as they can. But you can also dream up any bug snacks you like, from classics like ants on a log to one-of-a-kind bugs that only exist in your imagination.

Cooking with kids is always a fun, creative project—even when there’s no cooking required. And if you’re hosting a playdate or a party, kids can have fun putting together their own vegetable bug snacks! This is one time you want them to play with their food!

To encourage creative play, once you know the “bugs” and critters you’re going to make, print out our chatty speech bubble templates. You can use our pre-printed phrases or write your own in blank bubbles—dreaming up fun things for the bugs to say is another fun activity for a party or playdate! Then cut out the speech bubbles, tape to toothpicks, and stick them into the snacks so it looks like the bugs are talking to each other.

You can make a single critter if that’s everyone’s favorite snack. (And if you don’t have sugar eyes for the snail or caterpillar, substitute them with dots of cream cheese and a black sesame seed.) Or, if you’re hosting a party—for kids or adults with good senses of humor!—or just want to make an afterschool snack extra special, make them all and assemble them in a “garden party” everyone can enjoy looking at before eating. Stick some broccoli florets into slices of cucumber as “trees” and cut some nori into “grass” to set the scene. It’s all fun and games—and before you know it, everyone’s eaten healthy snacks with big smiles on their faces!

For more kid-friendly fun in the garden crafts, food ideas, and activities, click here.

 

What You’ll Need

• Vegetable Bug Snacks Speech Bubble Template
• White Paper or Cardstock
• Scissors
• Toothpicks
• Tape
• Edible Ink Marker
• Sugar Eyes (optional)
• Assorted vegetables, fruit, and crackers (see specific lists for each critter below)
• Your Imagination!

How-To

Step 1: Download our Speech Bubble Template, print, and cut out.

Step 2: Write your own phrases in the blank speech bubbles, if you’re using them. Tape speech bubbles onto toothpicks.

Step 3: Assemble vegetable bug snacks and stick the appropriate speech bubble toothpick into each snack. For assembly instructions, see below!

Banana Snail

This smart snack is made with the classic flavors of peanut butter and banana.

What You’ll Need

• Banana Slice
• Cashew
• Peanut Butter
• Celery Stick, cut to about 2 inches in size
• Candy Eyes

How-To

Step 1: Spread peanut butter onto celery stick.

Step 2: Place banana slice toward the back of the celery stick as the snail shell, and cashew in front of it as the snail’s body.

Step 3: Use dots of peanut butter to stick candy eyes to the cashew to give the snail a face.

Step 4: (Optional) Stick a speech bubble toothpick in front of the cashew so it looks like the snail is talking. Our pre-printed favorite for this guy is “Wait for me!” but there are so many options you can write in, including “I’m coming out of my shell!”

Step 5: Serve snail vegetable bug snack as is, or place the celery stick on a cracker for more stability.

Cucumber Snail

Made with cucumber, cream cheese, chives, and an olive, snail number two is a little more sour and spicy; that’s why he’s got the speech bubble that says, “Don’t bug me!”

What You’ll Need

• Cucumber Slice
• Cream Cheese
• Celery Stick, cut to about 2 inches in size
• Olive
• Chives, cut into two pieces of about ½ an inch each
• Candy Eyes

How-To

Step 1: Spread cream cheese onto celery stick.

Step 2: Place cucumber toward the back of the celery stick to act as the snail’s shell, and the olive to the front as its head.

Step 3: Give the snail a face by sticking chive pieces on top of the olive as antennae, and using two dots of cream cheese to adhere candy eyes to the front of the olive.

Step 4: (Optional) Stick a speech bubble toothpick in front of the olive so it looks like the snail is talking. Our pre-printed pick for this snail is “Don’t bug me!” but you can write in whatever you like!

Step 5: Serve snail vegetable bug snack as is, or place the celery stick on a cracker for more stability.

Grape Caterpillar

With apologies to Eric Carle, this very hungry caterpillar is inching his way to his next meal!

What You’ll Need

• Celery Stick, cut to about 4 inches in size
• Peanut butter
• 4 Red grapes
• 1 Green grape
• Candy eyes

How-To

Step 1: Spread peanut butter onto celery stick.

Step 2: Starting at the back of the celery stick, place 4 red grapes on the celery stick as the caterpillar body and 1 green grape in front as its face.

Step 3: Use dots of peanut butter to stick candy eyes to the green grape.

Step 4: (Optional) Stick a speech bubble toothpick in the celery so it looks like the caterpillar is talking. Our pre-printed favorite for the caterpillar is “I’m very hungry!” but you can also think of your own options!

Step 5: Serve caterpillar vegetable bug snack as is!

Tomato Ladybug

Ladybugs are symbols of good luck across multiple cultures—partly because they eat pests that destroy crops! This ladybug may or may not know about her reputation as a bringer of good fortune—but she’s definitely feeling lucky!

What You’ll Need

• Grape tomato
• Black Olive
• Edible Ink Marker
• Baby Spinach Leaf
• Chives, cut into two ½ inch pieces

How-To

Step 1: Slice the top third off of a grape tomato, and the bottom third off of a black olive and set them side by side, pressing them into each other.

Step 2: Using the edible marker, draw a line down the center of the grape tomato to separate the ladybug’s wings, then make dots on either side of the line.

Step 3: Stick the chives into the black olive as antennae.

Step 4: Rest the ladybug on a baby spinach leaf, and stick in the “I Feel Lucky” speech bubble—or another bubble of your choice—if using. Now you’re ready to serve some luck!

Radish Mouse

Who stole your cheese? It’s this gal, a cute little pink mouse sneaking onto a serving of cheese and crackers!

What You’ll Need

• Radish: 1 small whole radish, and two slices of a smaller radish
• Knife
• Edible ink marker
• Cheese wedge
• Cracker

How-To

Step 1: Slice two slits at the top of the fat end of a radish, and slip radish slices inside.

Step 2: Using the edible ink marker, draw two dots on the fat end of the radish to give it eyes.

Step 3: Place a wedge of cheese on a cracker and set the mouse next to it. Stick the “Say Cheese!” speech bubble on a toothpick into the wedge of cheese, if using, or write your own message (“Gouda to go!” “Don’t worry, brie happy!”) in a blank speech bubble, tape to a toothpick and stick in. Serve your mouse and don’t forget to say cheese!

Veggie Trees and Grass

Set the scene for your vegetable bug snacks’ garden party with broccoli floret trees and grass cut out of nori.

What You’ll Need

• Broccoli florets
• Persian or Kirby cucumber slices
• Knife
• Nori sheets
• Scissors

How-To

Step 1: Slice broccoli into bite size florets.

Step 2: Chop cucumber into about half-inch thick slices

Step 3: Press broccoli into the middle of the cucumber so it stands up

Step 4: Cut nori into 2.5” strips and snip zig zags along the top edge, then lean the strip, zig zags pointing up, against a piece of vegetable to make it stand up.