So by this point your kids are probably out of school and you’re in the thick of summer camp or headed towards it…or maybe you’re just looking for a way to keep the kids occupied with you at home. Regardless of the scenario, I have a fun, creative summer lunch option for you! This lunch is perfect for the lunch box or at home between summer activities. You can put this lunch together in about 15 minutes (once the jello is set) for the littler ones, or get older kids involved with making it to make it an activity unto itself. It has a bit more sugar than I typically include in my creative school lunch series, but I suppose that’s okay every now and again. After all, it is summer…
To start this lunch, prepare berry blue jello and pour a very thin layer in the bottom of one section of a lunch container. Pop that in the fridge and let it set for a few hours. I did this the night before, so I had it all ready the day that we were going to use them, but if you don’t have time for the jello to set – or if you’re just looking for a healthier alternative – try lining the bottom of one section of a lunch container with blueberries instead like I did in my Snow Day themed lunch.
From there, it’s time to make your sailboat. Simply make your sandwich as usual and then cut it into 4 triangles, then cut the crusts off. Because deep down, you know your kids are going to eat around the crusts anyway. Add an orange slice for the hull and a veggie straw (a pretzel would also work well) for the luff and you’re done! And think, you just learned some sailboat terminology while doing it too!
Then lay it on top of the blue jello and add a few gold fish crackers.
From there, move on to the cookie flip flops. Okay, so the very best way to make these would be with Nutter Butters and Red Vines, but I couldn’t use either (allergies and my Red Vines are currently missing in action), so I had to improvise a bit. Instead, I used sour worms and Raspberry Milano cookies (which, if you haven’t tried, you really should…YUM). To make the flip flops simply cut a gummy worm in half,
cut the top at a slight angle,
and then stick them together. To get them to stay on your cookie, cut a bit off the bottom of each of the 1/2 worms and stick it to the top of the cookie. And yes, I’m using scissors in this step for a reason, it’s so, so much easier than using a knife. Just make sure to run them through the washing machine when you’re done and they should be good as new. 
Once your cookie flip flops are done, place them on some graham cracker sand. 
Finally, make it a sunny day at the beach by adding a bright yellow banana slice and some cheddar cheese rays. Pineapple would also be great for this step, but my kids aren’t a fan so I went a different route. Anything sunny and bright would be perfect.
So that’s it – the perfect beach themed lunch for camp or home. And if your kids are anything like mine, they’ll love it!
To see more creative lunches click here, and be sure to check back next week…I have a great patriotic lunch that you’re not going to want to miss!
