Top 10 Healthy Babysitting Recipes

We've got recipes that are slightly tastier than the usual things they put in their mouths.

Kids can be extremely picky eaters, especially when it comes to nutritious food. But, one vital piece of information can help you figure out how to get the children to eat healthy: kids eat with their eyes.

If they like the way something looks, children are more likely to eat it, or at least try it. These fun, healthy and Sittercity-tested recipes are great to try when you're on the job.

Ladybug

• One fresh peach or a can of peach halves
• Raisins
• Maraschino cherries
• Baby carrots
• (Makes two Lady Bugs)

Place a fresh or canned peach-half, pitted side down, on a plate. Use raisins for the eyes and dots on the back of the Lady Bug, cherry stems for the antennae and half a maraschino cherry slice for the mouth. Take the baby carrots and cut them in half, then use them for legs.

Puppy Dog

• One fresh pear or a can of pear halves
• One banana
• Raisins
• Maraschino cherries
• Apple wedges
• (Makes two puppy dogs)

Place a fresh or canned pear-half on a plate. Cut a banana lengthwise in half and then crosswise in half. Place one of the banana halves at each side of the large end of the pear half for the ears. Use a raisin for the eye. Place a cherry half at the narrow end of the pear half for the nose and use the apple wedges for the collar.

Bunny Rabbit

• Lettuce leaf
• One fresh pear or a can of pear halves
• One banana
• Raisins
• Strawberries
• Pretzel sticks
• (Makes two bunny rabbits)

Place a fresh or canned pear half on a lettuce-lined plate. Use raisins for the eyes, then cut a strawberry in half lengthwise for the nose. Use pretzel sticks for his whiskers and then slice a banana in half lengthwise for the ears.

Star Salad

• Lettuce leaf
• Five melon wedges (cantaloupe, honeydew or watermelon)
• 1/2 cup creamed cottage cheese
• Strawberry slices
• (Makes one star salad)

Place the lettuce leaf on a plate. Arrange melon wedges on the lettuce leaf in a circle with the points outward to make star. Spoon 1/2 cup cottage cheese into center of the melon star, then garnish with the strawberry slices.

Magic Wands

• Two red apples, cored and cut into chunks (about 12 chunks per apple)
• One cup red grapes
• Avocado (pitted, peeled and cut into eight pieces)
• 36 long, thin pretzel sticks
• (Makes 36 wands)

Use a skewer to poke holes in the center of each piece of apple, grape, cheese and avocado. Thread one piece of either the apple, avocado or one grape onto the end of the pretzel stick through the holes.

Colorful, Edible Play Dough

• 1/2 cup salt
• 2-1/2 cups flour
• 2 packages Kool-Aid
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 2 cups boiling water
• Cookie cutters of different shapes and sizes
• (Makes about two cups)

Mix dry ingredients, then add the oil and water. Knead until doughy. Make a few extra batches to store in the refrigerator so it's easily on hand. Put out cookie cutters to make fun shapes and let kids cut out the shapes they would like to eat once they are done playing. Make sure you cover the play area with waxed paper before putting the play dough out!

Peanut Butter Pinwheels

• Peanut butter (chunky or creamy, whatever the kids prefer)
• Honey
• Wheat tortillas
• Granola
• (Makes about six pinwheels per tortilla)

Spread creamy or chunky peanut butter and a little bit of honey on a wheat tortilla. Sprinkle with granola, roll up the tortilla and slice it into bite-size pinwheels.

Bugs in the Sand

• Plastic bag
• Graham crackers
• Raisins, blueberries, cranberries, nuts or carob chips

Place a graham cracker in a plastic bag, seal it shut and crush the crackers into fine sand using a large spoon. Add a few raisins, blueberries, cranberries, nuts or carob chips to the bag and have the kids dig for "bugs" in the sand. Afterward, give them a spoon so they can eat the sand!

Fishing Pond

• 1/2 cup low-fat cream cheese or cheese spread
• Fish-shaped crackers
• 4 celery ribs, stems removed
• Blue food coloring
• (Serves two)

Scoop the cream cheese into a bowl and add a little blue food coloring to make it look like a "pond". Place the goldfish in a separate bowl, or surround the "pond" with them. Let the kids dip the celery sticks into the cheese, then into the bowl of crackers to "catch" a fish.

Edible Paintings

• 1/4 cup nonfat milk
• 2 to 3 drops each red, blue, green and yellow food coloring
• 2 slices of whole wheat bread
• 2 clean paintbrushes
• 4 small plastic or paper cups
• (Serves two)

Pour one tablespoon milk into four small cups then use drops of food coloring to make four different colors of "paint." Let the kids paint their piece of bread however they choose and then toast it for a fun and tasty treat!