Fresh ideas for cooking with kids
Get your little ones eating more fruit and veg and keep them occupied over the summer months with treats in store and recipes they’ll love to make
Super-fun snacks
It can be tricky to get little ones eating more fruit and veg. But these fun ideas – and our great value M&S Select Farms Fresh Market Specials produce at just 65p – makes it a little easier (and tastier). Try these inventive options:
Pineapple emojis: top pineapple slices with strawberry eyes and mouths to create a range of expressions
Nectarine and blueberry crabs: use half a pitted nectarine, flesh-side down, for the body then nectarine slices to make the legs and pincers. Finish with two blueberry eyes
Apple and grape cars: arrange halved grapes onto slices of apple to look like wheels
Red pepper dip: blitz roasted red peppers with cream cheese to create a pretty-in-pink dip. Serve with red pepper slices for dunking
Peanut butter with apple dippers: as an alternative to toast or breadsticks, dip apple slices into peanut butter
Fruity water: create a low-sugar alternative to juice or soda by adding fresh fruit slices to glasses of sparkling water
Jolly lollies
One way to cool down and rehydrate the kids this summer is to hand out refreshing hassle-free treats such as our new ice lollies, which are made from fruit juice and contain no artificial colours or preservatives.
Fill the freezer with packs of our fruity ice lollies in three delicious flavours – orange, blackcurrant and raspberry – and our retro-inspired orange, pineapple and strawberry rocket lollies, and you’ll always have some thirst-quenching ices nearby to keep them happy.
Berry nice treats
If you’ve been searching for ways to feed the family more fruit, our family-sized packs of blueberries and strawberries are the answer to your culinary prayers. Slide berries onto wooden skewers for some sweet kebabs, make a zingy salad by mixing whole and halved blueberries with lime juice and zest, cut out strawberry stars, or fashion a fruity mouse or two by pushing a cocktail stick through the thin end of a strawberry and adding blueberry ears to each end.
Or make these fresh and fruity two-tone smoothies:
Blend 6 tablespoons of Greek yoghurt with 200g blueberries and a dollop of honey. If it’s too thick, add a little milk to loosen. Pour into two glasses.
Repeat the process but replace the blueberries with strawberries. Pour slowly over the blueberry mixture. Serve immediately.
Monster crunch crudités
Make eating veggies fun with this scarily good snack idea
For the beetroot dip:
4 cooked beetroots, quartered
2-3 tbsp natural yoghurt
A handful of mint leaves, chopped
A squeeze of lemon juice
To serve:
Radishes
Carrots
Sugar-snap peas
Cucumbers
Cooked broccoli
Black olives
To make the dip, blitz all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Cut the veggies into shapes and arrange in a lunchbox in a face shape, then serve with the dip.
More kid-approved inspiration
Berry swirled lollies
These healthy homemade lollies are easy to make and even easier to eat
Cherry tomato ladybirds
These colourful bugs are a brilliant way to get children to try grown-up flavours
Teddy toast
A cute way to serve toast in the mornings (and get smiles from your sleepy kids in the process)
Pink fruit salad
Get budding chefs to practise their knife skills by making this pretty in pink salad
Hungry for more?
Make the most of summer berries
Our recipes showcase the season’s bounty of juicy blueberries, raspberries and strawberries
Cook with M&S recipe app
We have hundreds of tempting recipe ideas to share with you on our free app, from quick and easy snacks to standout dinners and sumptuous puddings
