“A mouse is taking a stroll through the deep, dark wood when along comes a hungry fox, then an owl, and then a snake. The mouse is good enough to eat but smart enough to know this, so he invents . . . the gruffalo! As Mouse explains, the gruffalo is a creature with terrible claws, and terrible tusks in its terrible jaws, and knobbly knees and turned-out toes, and a poisonous wart at the end of its nose. But Mouse has no worry to show. After all, there’s no such thing as a gruffalo. . . .”
The Gruffalo is such a fun book! It will take kids a moment to figure out the joke and there is ENDLESS Gruffalo-themed fun to be had on Pinterest and various mom-blogs. My favorite thing to make with kids is something we can all appreciate–food, of course! Here are some delicious, easy forest-themed snacks that are the perfect compliment to the Gruffalo.
Apple Mushrooms
These mushrooms are so adorable–and yummy too! All you need are apples, large marshmallows and toothpicks. Slice the apple off-center of the core so that you get two mushroom caps per apple (one from each side). Take a toothpick and slide a marshmallow on it, and then top it off with an apple and Voila! You can display it as shown in the photo or cut the toothpicks down so that they will stand on their own.
Kid-Friendly Trail Mix
This trail mix is made with popcorn–always a kid favorite! We found the recipe at Whole Foods:
- 2 cups popped popcorn (preferably unsalted)
- 3/4 cup roasted almonds or roasted peanuts (preferably unsalted)
- 3/4 cup unsweetened dried banana chips
- 3/4 cup fruit-juice sweetened dried cranberries
Mix and share!
Strawberry Snake
This treat is so sweet and super healthy!
- strawberries
- bananas
- chocolate chips (something for the eyes)
Wash and cut the strawberries up into slices, leaving enough whole stawberries (minus the tops) for the number of snakes you’ll be making (they will create the heads). Slice the bananas as well. Cut a slit in the end of the whole strawberry for the mouth and place on the plate. Place the bananas and strawberries so that they alternate like the stripes of a coral snake. Use some leftover strawberry to make a tongue and push the chocolate chips into the head point-first for the eyes!