Watermelon Lollipops {Fun & Healthy Children’s Snack}

One thing I am always trying to think about is healthy snacks for the kids. It is such a struggle for me to get my girls to eat healthy foods to fuel their bodies and one of the biggest challenges is at school. The snack is rotated daily by parent and it seems like my little girl gets some sort of doughnut, cupcake, chips, juice box, cookie etc… every single day.

Fortunately our schools allow us to bring homemade items and I am always trying to think of a fun way to present fruits and veggies for the kids. I think whimsical presentation can really go a long way in making things fun for them so that I am not the bummer Mom that brings the healthy stuff no one eats.

So we were in charge of fruit for a class party and I decided to make fun little watermelon lollipops. These are so easy to do and fruit is usually a sure fire hit for the little ones. Plus watermelon is extremely affordable – I bought a giant watermelon that provided about 27 of these shapes plus we have a huge bowl of scraps in the fridge for snacks. So actually cheaper then if I had purchased 2 dozen doughnuts or a big pack of single serve chips or something.

To make these couldn’t be easier but a few things I have discovered.

• You are limited in shapes. Since it is almost Easter I initially wanted to use a Bunny head cookie cutter and I discovered you really can’t tell what the shape is. I just stuck to hearts and stars but I might check out Sur La Table for more fun cookie cutters- I think a flower would be perfect.
• The size you slice your watermelon is a big deal. I wanted a fairly generous portion for the kids so initially I cut the watermelon about an inch thick. That is a little too thick for the stick to support and your fruit will fall off and turn into a mess. So stick with about 1/2 inch if you can.
• The size of the cookie cutter is also important. A bigger shape will break and a too small shape will just look… well too small 🙂

But all in all these were super simple and my kids LOVED these. and most importantly my little one was so excited to take these to school today.  She insisted on carrying the plate and presenting it to the teacher and both of them were all over me when I was cutting shapes because they were dying to get samples.  😉

So to make these just pick up some lollipop sticks in the baking aisles at craft stores, Walmart or Target (near the cupcake liners) and then slice your watermelon into about 1/2 inch circles.  Take your cookie cutter and cut out the melon.  You will have tons of extra melon around the shapes so just cut that into smaller pieces for bite size snacks later.

I purchased one of the huge watermelons at the store and was able to make about 27 lollipops.   Just take care when you stab the stick into the fruit that you only go about 2/3 of the way into the fruit.  If you piece all the way through the watermelon will fall off the stick when it is picked up.

These are roughly the size of your palm so a good size serving.

I put these on a fun plate and sprinkled some frozen blueberries around them to help keep things cold (my kids LOVE frozen blueberries).

And if you would like other ideas for healthy treats, how about this 3 ingredient watermelon sorbet:

Or these fun Rainbow Fruit Cups:

Or these white chocolate stuffed raspberries: