We had so much fun making these Fruit & Vegetable Bug Snacks using Envirokidz cereal! Aren't they cute!? Our first attempts looked so silly, we'd start laughing every time we made "eye contact" with them 😛
Making Googly Eyes
If you don’t have piping bags, sandwich bags with the tip of the corner cut off will work well for piping eyes.
Vegetable bugs:
Use a straw to cut out black olive pupils. Pipe small dots of cream cheese onto a plate. Top with black olive pupils. Freeze the dots of cream cheese for easier assembly.
Fruit bugs:
Version 1 - Pipe small dots of cream cheese onto a plate. Top with mini dairy-free chocolate chips. Freeze to chill.
Version 2 - Stick mini dairy-free chocolate chips onto Envirokidz cereal using a dot of peanut butter or cream cheese. Freeze to chill.
Snails, Caterpillars, & Butterflies, Oh my!
Unleash your kids’ imagination! Create your very own bugs or use our reference photos to make snails, caterpillars, dragonflies, and butterflies.
Snails
Start with a fruit or vegetable round for the shell.
Stick chilled googly eyes onto cherry tomato heads, cashew heads, or grapes. Insert chives or thin-sliced apples (with skins) into the cherry tomato heads for antennae.
Caterpillars
Stick chilled googly eyes onto cherry tomato or grape heads. Add chive or apple antennae. Make the body with a line of cherry tomatoes, grapes, blueberries, or cereal.
Dragonflies and butterflies
Stick chilled googly eyes onto grape or cherry tomato heads (for fruit bugs using cereal you can put the eyes directly onto the celery filled with peanut butter.)
Add chive or apple antennae. Use sliced strawberries or halved cucumber slices for wings. Use cereal, blueberries, grapes, or cherry tomatoes for the body.
Fruit and Vegetable Bug Snacks
- Prep Time: 45
- Chill Time: 15
- Total Time: 60
- Yield: 20 bugs 1x
- Category: Kids
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Bring out your child’s inner artist with healthy fruit and vegetable bug snacks! These cute little bugs are a fun and easy recipe for kids. This recipe is gluten free, vegan and low-sodium.
Ingredients
Vegetable Bugs
- 2-3 Celery stalks, cut into various lengths for different bugs
- 1-2 mini cucumbers, halved lengthwise with seeds scooped out, cut into various lengths
- ½ cup Vegan cream cheese
- 10 cucumber slices
- 1 cup cherry and/or grape tomatoes (various colours)
- 1 bunch chives, cut into 1” lengths
- 5-7 black olives
- 10 whole cashews
Fruit Bugs
- 2-3 celery stalks, cut into various lengths for different bugs
- ½ cup peanut butter (or other nut/seed butter for peanut allergies)
- 1 cup red and/or green grapes
- 3-4 strawberries, sliced
- ½ cup blueberries
- 1 apple, sliced
- ¼ cups mini dairy-free chocolate chips
- ½ cup ball-shaped cereal (We used Envirokidz cereals: Leapin’ Lemurs, Gorilla Munch, Panda Puffs, or Jungle Munch)
Other supplies
- Piping bags
- Large piping tips (optional - for cream cheese/peanut butter filling)
- Small piping tips (optional - for piping cream cheese googly eyes)
Instructions
Vegetable Bugs
- Prepare the googly eyes: Use a straw to cut out black olive pupils. Pipe small dots of cream cheese onto a plate. Top with black olive pupils. Freeze the dots of cream cheese for easier assembly.
- Prepare fruit and vegetables, refer to preparation photos for a visual guide of the many ways you can prepare the ingredients.
- Scoop seeds from mini cucumbers. Cut a flat edge on the bottoms of celery sticks and mini cucumbers to help them stand up once they’ve been decorated as bugs.
- Fill celery stalks and/or mini cucumbers with cream cheese, using a piping bag or spoon.
- Unleash your kids’ imagination! Create your very own bugs or use our reference photos to make snails, caterpillars, dragonflies, and butterflies.
Snails: Start with a fruit or vegetable round for the shell. Stick chilled googly eyes onto cherry tomato heads, cashew heads, or grapes. Insert chives or thin-sliced apples (with skins) into the cherry tomato heads for antennae.
Fruit Bugs
- Prepare the googly eyes:
Version 1 - Pipe small dots of cream cheese onto a plate. Top with mini dairy-free chocolate chips. Freeze to chill.
Version 2 - Stick mini dairy-free chocolate chips onto cereal using a dot of peanut butter or cream cheese. Freeze to chill. - Prepare fruit and vegetables, refer to preparation photos for a visual guide of the many ways you can prepare the ingredients.
- Fill celery stalks with peanut butter, using a piping bag or spoon. These will be the base to all of the fruit and vegetable bugs you make.
- Create your very own bugs or use our reference photos to make snails, caterpillars, dragonflies, and butterflies.
Caterpillars: Stick chilled googly eyes onto cherry tomato or grape heads. Add chive or apple antennae. Make the body with a line of cherry tomatoes, grapes, blueberries, or cereal.
Dragonflies and butterflies: Stick chilled googly eyes onto grape or cherry tomato heads (for fruit bugs using cereal you can put the eyes directly onto the celery filled with peanut butter.) Add chive or apple antennae. Use sliced strawberries or halved cucumber slices for wings. Use cereal, blueberries, grapes, or cherry tomatoes for the body.
Notes
TIP: If you don’t have piping bags, sandwich bags with the tip of the corner cut off will work well for piping eyes.
Keywords: fruit and vegetable bugs, kids, snacks for kids
Brean
I’m making these for a Saturday party at noon! How far in advance should I make these cuties?
Susan
This like such a awesome in I'll dea
Cheryl
What is in the celery?the white stuff?
Dee Mittie
Vegan cream cheese
Petra
Geweldig leuk,maar waar zijn de oogjes ven gemaakt
Tara Kamiya
Adorable! Will do for our summer parties!
Vicki
Link takes you to the bouquet instead of the bugs. 🙁
Henk
Great 👍
Lise
for me as well
Rebecca
So adorable and healthy!
T Cones
The correct link:
https://www.naturespath.com/en-ca/recipes/fruit-vegetable-bug-snacks/
Olimpia
The link for the veggie bugs...
https://www.naturespath.com/en-ca/recipes/fruit-vegetable-bug-snacks/
Jana bennett
Adorable ideas
★★★★★
Susan
I love this! I do "Movie Night" with my grandkids and I usually make healthy snacks with the theme of the movie. Looks like we'll be watchin "A Bugs Life" soon!
Stacey Masterson
This is fun and super cute way to liven up any dish or family get together!
Pam Bishop
Great idea! Been promoting this for years.
Tom
Great stuff
Al huggins
I love doing these out of the ordinary presentations with fruit and vegetables. Great post
Sheila
What did you use for the antenna?
Brittany
Chives!
Augusto Tomás
I like your vegetable bugs .
Thank you to share
Brittany
Thanks so much!
Lorraine
I was wondering what those were! So creative and the kids love them. These creations help stubborn kids eat their veggies!
Mary Diffenderfer
these would be great for my grandchildren!
Brittany
I bet they'd love these!
Vickie Hendrix
These are so cute and will be so healthy for kids
Brittany
Absolutely Vickie!
Joann Wyckoff
What did you use for the eyes
Brittany
For the sweet ones, mini chocolate chips with a little bit of nut butter to stick them on. For the savoury ones, a little bit of vegan cream cheese rolled into a ball for the whites, and a little piece of black olive for the pupil!
Peggy
So neat
Brittany
Thanks so much Peggy!
Eduardo Neves
A arte de escultura em frutas e legumes é uma verdadeira demostração de culturas, profissionalismo e amor pela arte!
Pat Gupton
I tried to subscribe, but never received an email.
Brittany
New emails are sent out when new posts are published. The confirmation email could be in your spam folder?
Eduardo Neves
Fantástico amei
Amruta
Wow, this is so creative! Loved it, my son is now asking me to make it. Thanks for sharing and your post on Nature's path is very helpful.
Cheryl
Totally adorable! I checked out Natures Path website too ---very worthwhile reading, great organic products.🌱
William Mueller
Thank you Cheryl! I appreciate you checking out the Nature's Path website, they have lots of interesting reading there. 🙂
Doreen
What are the eyes made of?
Jim Fitch
Piped Cream Cheese for the whites and small bits of olives cut with a small straw for the pupils.