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Celery Animals: Fun and Creative Snack Ideas for Kids Recipe

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4.1 from 41 reviews

  • Author: Ezabella
  • Total Time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: 6 to 8 celery animals depending on size
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Description

Celery Animals are fun and creative snack ideas perfect for kids, transforming simple celery sticks with peanut butter and various toppings into imaginative animals like snails, butterflies, reindeer, ants on a log, and caterpillars. These easy, quick-to-assemble snacks use common ingredients found in most kitchens and are visually engaging, making healthy eating fun and interactive for children.

Ingredients

Base

  • Celery sticks (trimmed to 3-4 inches each)

Filling

  • Creamy peanut butter (preferred for easy spreading)
  • Sunflower seed butter (optional alternative)
  • Cream cheese (optional alternative)
  • Almond butter (optional alternative)
  • Hummus (optional alternative for ants on a log)

Toppings and Decorations

  • Raisins (for ants and eyes)
  • Grapes (halved, for caterpillar body segments)
  • Apple slices (thin, skin side up for snail shells)
  • Pretzels (mini twists for butterfly wings and reindeer antlers; broken pieces for antennae and mouths)
  • M&M candies (red ones for reindeer nose and owl beak)
  • Mini chocolate chips (for eyes and other features)
  • Mini marshmallows (for butterfly bodies and eyes)
  • Slivered almonds (for feathers or wings)
  • Candy eyeballs (for faces)
  • Red bell pepper strips (optional, for colorful butterfly wings or reindeer noses)
  • Fruit leather (optional replacement for snail shell for a sweeter treat)

Instructions

  1. Prepare Celery: Trim celery sticks into lengths of about 3 to 4 inches depending on the animal design you want to create.
  2. Fill the Groove: Use creamy peanut butter or your chosen filling (sunflower seed butter, cream cheese, almond butter, or hummus) to fill the groove of each celery stick evenly.
  3. Assemble Celery Snails: Take a celery stick filled with peanut butter about 3 inches long. Place a thin apple slice with the skin side up on one end to mimic the snail shell. Insert two pretzel sticks into the opposite end to serve as antennae. Add two small eyes with mini chocolate chips, raisins, candy eyeballs, or mini marshmallows on the snail’s face.
  4. Assemble Celery Butterflies: For each butterfly, use a 3-inch celery stick filled with peanut butter or sunflower seed butter. Attach two mini pretzel twists on either side of the celery for wings. Place mini marshmallows down the middle as the body. Insert broken pretzel pieces as antennae. Optionally, use red bell pepper strips for colorful wings.
  5. Assemble Celery Reindeer: Use a 4-inch celery stick filled with peanut butter or cream cheese. Push two pretzel twists into one end angled upwards to form antlers. Add two dots of filling and press a raisin or chocolate chip into each for eyes. Place one red M&M or small red bell pepper piece at the other end for the nose. Use a broken U-shaped pretzel for the mouth.
  6. Assemble Ants on a Log: Cut celery into 3-inch sticks. Fill the groove with peanut butter, cream cheese, or hummus. Press raisins evenly spaced along the filling to resemble ants marching on a log. Substitute raisins with dried cranberries, chocolate chips, or blueberries as desired.
  7. Assemble Celery Caterpillars: Trim a celery stick to about 4 inches and fill the groove with peanut butter, almond butter, or cream cheese. Line up grape halves pressed gently into the filling to look like segmented caterpillar body parts. Attach two raisins with a small dab of nut butter at one end for the eyes. Add two pretzel sticks poked into the first grape segment as antennae, if desired.
  8. Serve and Enjoy: Arrange your celery animals on a serving board for a visually engaging snack that kids will love to eat and help assemble.

Notes

  • Use creamy peanut butter for easier spreading and smoother taste in celery animals.
  • Try fruit leather rolled up for snail shells as a sweeter alternative paired with cream cheese.
  • Pretzels work better than crackers for wings or antlers because they hold shape and add a salty contrast.
  • Let children participate in assembling their own celery animals to increase their interest in eating healthy snacks.
  • Substitute or add different dried fruits and toppings to customize flavors and textures.
  • Celery animals are ideal for quick weekday snacks and suit a variety of dietary preferences based on fillings and toppings chosen.
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 0 minutes
  • Category: Snack
  • Method: No-Cook
  • Cuisine: American

Find it online: https://kitchenloving.com/celery-animals-fun-and-creative-snack-ideas-for-kids-recipe/