Story times are pretty great on their own. Who doesn’t love cuddling up with a good book to read. However, add a snack and you raise it to a whole new level. It becomes an “experience” and can feel super special for children. And the best part is that the snack can be really quick and simple. You don’t need to spend hours in the kitchen baking something from scratch, it’s the delicious pairing with the book that makes it so delightful for kids.
Adding a simple snack to story time on occasion can make it feel extra special
When we do story time snacks I like to read my children the book first and then present them with the snack. That way they already have the reference for the snack and are excited about it. We definitely don’t do snacks with all of our story times, but it is a fun surprise that I love doing on occasion and is something I would like to do more with my kids.
Below are a dozen of the simple snack pairings that we have done with picture books. Give them a try to make your story time experience a little more of a party.
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We paired bakery, blueberry muffins with “Oridnary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed” by Emily Pearson and Fumi Kosaka because in the story the simple acts of kindness start with a gift of blueberries and the baking of blueberry muffins.
We paired smiley face marshmallows with “Most Marshmallows” by Rowboat Watkins. All you need to do is use some food coloring markers (we used these) and draw some fun expressions on jumbo marshmallows!
A pairing of buttered toast with “A Piglet Named Mercy” by Kate DiCamillo and Chris Van Dusen was a given because buttered toast is this beloved characters favorite snack in the whole world.
In “When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree” by Jamie L. B. Deehan and Lorraine Rocha a young girl makes lemonade with lemons from her lemon tree for entrepreneurial endeavors. You can make the lemonade from the recipe in the book or purchase your favorite brand.
We had so much fun pairing rainbow, flavored marshmallows with “Super Slug of Doom: A Super Happy Magic Forest Story” by Matt Long. In the story the unicorn Blossom snacks on a bag of marshmallows that she carries with her the entire time.
“The Bear Ate Your Sandwich” by Julia Sarcone-Roach is a tall-tale story by a surprise character about the disappearance of a sandwich at a park. The perfect story to enjoy with a sandwich of your own!
Popcorn is a favorite snack at our house and it was extra special to pair it with “The Popcorn Book” by Tomie De Paoloa because it talks about the history and science of popcorn.
According to “Unicorns 101” by Cale Atkinson, peanut butter sandwiches with fairy dust are a favorite food of unicorns. We made our own, open faced version with gold sprinkles on top as our “fairy dust”. It was a hit!
How can you resist pairing fresh watermelon slices with Greg Pizzoli’s “The Watermelon Seed”?! I know that we can’t!
In “Nelly Takes New York” by Allison Patooki, Marya Myers and Kristi Valiant a little girl is on a mission to learn about New York. Not only does she stop for a bagel snack, but her dog is named bagel. That made it fun to pair this story with some mini bagels.
“Jill and Dragon” by Lesley Barnes is the story of a Dragon who uses it’s talent of making patterns on toast to make friends. We made our own toast patterns by buttering toast and using a stencil and cinnamon on top. My kids were delighted with the results.
We are big fans of the narwhal series including “Narwhal’s Otter Friend” by Ben Clanton. Because waffles are this characters favorite food in the whole world, it made a fun pairing for story time.
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Cammy Harris says
I love this post! Food and books is a perfect combination. Thank you!