Monkey Platters
Sandra DoddWhen my kids were little we went to the zoo one day when the primates were being fed and they had been given big trays of cut up fruit. It looked good; I guess we were hungry. When we got home I made a "monkey platter" for the kids, and it has been called that ever since. One thing they get that the monkeys didn't get is toothpicks. It was especially fun for them when they were younger to eat with dangerous little sticks. Now it's just tradition, and keeps the fruit stickiness off their fingers.
pineapple, in chunks (stick the toothpicks in half of those)There shouldn't be anything that has to be picked out or disposed of--everything should be edible. On any typical day we're only likely to have four or five things to put on the platter.little cubes of cheese
slices of apple
maybe (depends what the kids like) chunks of ham or turkey or some kind of meat
and depending what you have, maybe
grapes
cherries (maraschino or pitted or halves; no pits)
olives
banana bits
nuts
little crackers
Even with the kids being teens, I often deliver a monkey platter where they're watching a DVD with friends, or have been playing a game for a while, or working on a project.
Kelly Lovejoy wrote:Fix green eggs and ham for breakfast rather than pour a quick bowl of Sugar Bombs. Slice apples and serve with peanut better or sliced cheese for a morning snack. Fix a chicken quesadilla for lunch. Make a monkey platter of sliced meats, cheeses, nuts, cut-up vegies and fruits, crackers, and cookies in the afternoon and leave it out to be nibbled on. Then no amount of cookies just before supper will matter. My guess is that she wouldn't even *want* a cookie before supper!Karen Swanay responded: When I first joined [UnschoolingBasics] I was worried about my son Liam. He had SUCH a limited diet and refused to try anything new. After much fussing about "good habits" and the like...this was offered to me. I knew it was crap and wouldn't work =P but I offered it anyway. I made this huge platter with fruits, veggies, and meats, some sweet stuff I don't remember what it was candy or something, anyway, I plopped it on the table with a bowl of ranch dip and one of peanut butter and honey. I said nothing about it. I grabbed a plate and took what I wanted from it. The boys just watched me. Then they took plates and ate. AND LIAM ATE FRUIT AND VEGGIES! On his own. No tears. No yelling. He just ate it. Because it looked good. Because the platter was visually pleasing and offered 10 choices and about 1000 combo potentials. In about three hours I took the plate away because it was mostly gone. Know what was left over? The candy. Some was eaten but mostly it was all the good stuff. It does work. And it makes them happy. |
You might also want to read ideas for protein snacks from Deb Lewis's house, or snack ideas from Pam Sorooshian (on Joyce Fetteroll's page).
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