One for the Bento Babies lovers today!

I love a good theme. Seasons, celebrations and saint's days!

So in for a penny in for an Irish pound (well Euro really), here are 5 ideas for a Bento lunch or snack tea for the smaller people in your house.

I know that a lot of my lovely readers do not have children who are at school yet, so may think they will save these Bento ideas for when they start school. But no! Muffin tins make the perfect snack trays for picky lunches or poobernickel teas as my best friend's little boys calls them!

So raid your baking trays and try serving their lunch in a different way. I am constantly amazed by how simple changes in presentation can result in the boys trying new foods and enjoying the ones they love that little bit more.

Here are 5 ideas, one for every day of the working week :)

Blueberries/Edamame Beans/Pepperoni Potato Cake Sandwiches/Sweetcorn Crocodile Puffs/Clementine/Coconut Fruit Pouch with Sprinkles - the pot of gold!

Apple Fruit Pouch with Sprinkles/Carrot Puffs/Pistachio Nuts/Strawberries/Ham Wraps/Fruit Loops - for the rainbow!

Mini Sweet Cucumbers/Raisins and Fruit Smoothie Melts/Fromais Frais/Trio Colour Grapes/Cream Cheese and Pastry Twists/Dried Apple Slices

Banana Chips/Sunflower Seeds/Kiwi Fruit/Tomato Cous Cous/Carrot Sticks/Shredded Pork/Babybel Cheese

Watermelon/Cooked Pasta/Banana and Sprinkles/Edible Spray Painted Boiled Egg/Lime Jelly/Honeycomb

If you want to give them something sweet cake sprinkles are a great way to keep the sugar content low with maximum impact!

I am really passionate about Bento - if you are new to Bento then have a read here.

You can have a peek at all my Bento Babies ideas here. 

And if I was packing a lunch for school or pre school this is how it would look! 

I adore all the little picks and have built up quite a collection! I bought the St Patrick's Day themed picks in America but you can buy lots of Bento accessories in the UK. Check out Eats Amazing's shop here. I'm definitely buying the eye picks next.

Now show me yours! Let's get inspired with feeding our children variety and colour!

The 2nd February marks an anniversary for a very precious family. 

Fellow wonderful bloggers are writing letters but I wanted to do something that the boys could get involved in and do something that Jennie is a fan of too. 

We love making lunch and tea times more fun through the principle of Bento. You can tell stories through food and in one meal, lose count of how many different food groups your children are eating.

All it takes is a little effort and creativity.

Instead of a Valentines lunch post bursting with shades of red, ours is full of pinks and purples, hearts and stars. A special tea, as a tribute to a special girl.

The boys know all about Matilda Mae. A little girl who is now a sleeping angel. 

We've played in the woods and blown bubbles to remember her and today we made a special tea. A chance for me to spell out how much I love my boys too. A tea for 2.

With their cousin so poorly at the moment, Sammy has been asking lots of questions about mortality and heaven. I don't hide anything from him, but manage my answers.

He announced the other day that when he grows up he wants to be a "Dada" and Katy Rose (his sweetheart since birth) will be the "Mama". I asked him why and he said " Because I have to look after Granny! Her Mummy and Daddy are in heaven, so who will look after her? Me and Katy Rose will look after her and we will have a baby called Peter!"

His sentiment touched my heart.

That we all need looking after. That even if you are a grown up, you need someone looking out for you. So this is my post for Matilda Mae, a letter in a lunch. To help spread awareness of SIDS, as my gesture of love for a family hurting. Not just today but always.

The 2nd of February is an anniversary for us too. This year marks 5 years since we lost our best friends Chris and James in a tragic accident. Their wives and their sons are best friends of ours and no matter how much time passes, we still miss them. 

After you've read this post, go and tell the people you care about that you love them. Let's spread a whole lot of love together xx

If you want to make this Bento box you will need:

• Heart and star cutters
• A kiwi, sliced
• Fruit puree frozen into a heart shaped ice cube tray
• Red currants
• Noughts and Crosses
• Strawberry macaron with star pink icing (I used a perspex roller to make the pattern)
• Sprinkle sandwich (Use a cookie cutter to cut out your shape and then a heart on the top piece of bread. Spread jam over the bottom slice and add sprinkles)
• Cupid's cocktail sausages
• Raspberry fromais frais topped with cereal bar, heart sprinkles and kiwi stars
• Fruit hearts
• Multigrain Heart puffs
• Babybel in a Fruit Winder nest
• Blueberries
• I covered the sprinkles in the sandwich over with a pop tart heart! So they were a surprise.

I've added links just in case you haven't come across these products before.

To make a cupid's cocktail sausage follow these instructions!

Lining up with Savouring the Season

I am a big fan of Bento style lunches.

And so are my boys.

If they go to school and pre school with packets and wrapped bars instead of sweet silicone cups, they always leave something. Whereas, when I take a little extra effort to lay their lunch out in an attractive way, full of variety and colour, all I find at pick up time is empty cups.

There are lots of ideas on my Bento Babies page which you can find here, but today I thought it might be useful to take you through the portions my boys eat.

What's key to remember with small people is one portion for them is the size of their fist not ours. So a handful of grapes for example, is their handful not ours. 

It's really easy to put too much on their plates and in their lunches. Especially when packing a packed lunch full of snack bags because 3 doesn't look like a lot in the bottom of a large square lunch bag.

Here is what my boys eat on a daily basis for a packed lunch or snack tea.

I talked this through with the school nurse during Sammy's Reception year health check and she was very encouraging of my portion sizes. 

I have got some great little Bento accessories for the lead up to Christmas to stick in their lunches. I might just have to make Christmas Tree shaped sandwiches!

How do you get your small people excited about their lunch? I'd love to see! Link up your lunches people (Or snack teas!) and let's get sharing ideas. 

You can link up a photo or a blog post, so get snapping and show off your super sarnies!