New Book Uses Plate Art to Encourage Kids to Eat Healthy

Are your kids picky eaters when it comes to healthy foods? A recently published book,Funny Food: 365 Fun, Healthy, Silly, Creative Breakfasts

, helps get kids to eat healthy morning meals with edible art.

According to the New York Daily News, co-authors Bill and Claire Wurtzel turn common, healthy breakfast foods like eggs, oatmeal, and fruit into edible sculptures on a plate. The book gives directions on how to recreate their plates, but also encourages readers to get creative in the kitchen and make their own edible masterpieces. The sculpture guidelines include flowers, a tree with a birds nest, and a variety of people and faces.

More From Delish: Popular Recipes for Kids

More From Delish

 

While some of the food sculptures in the book are downright impressive, co-author Bill Wurtzel says, "Your breakfasts don't have to look like they'll hang in the Lourve. It's the gesture that counts." However, in case you do want your breakfast to look like it came from the Lourve, Funny Food features a Mona Lisa sculpture (called the Plum-Alisa) crafted from a plum.

The book idea came from "Funny Food" workshops that duo Bill and Claire Wurtzel run at local New York City elementary schools. The Wurtzels get students and teachers to make silly faces out of food while they teach about healthy eating and balanced breakfasts. The Wurtzels post instructional videos and guidelines on their Funny Food website so parents and teachers can recreate the experience for their kids.

More From Delish: Kid-Friendly Dinners to Cook Together

Although Bill and Claire Wurtzel use their edible art to encourage kids to eat better, that wasn't the original idea behind their silly breakfast plates. Bill Wurtzel used whimsical breakfasts to impress Claire when they first started dating. Bill stated that his inspiration, "has always been making Claire smile."

Have you ever made food art for your kids? Do you think programs like "Funny Food" will help kids eat healthier?

Zoe Bain

7-second life story: I was pre-med in college, until I realized that I could turn baking my problems away (instead of doing my chem homework) into a profession.
Hometown: Los Angeles
3 things I make better than anyone else: Pancakes (they are a Sunday morning staple for the Bain family), cookie dough (I will take the raw stuff over just-out-of-the-oven cookies any day), chili
Recipe I'm on the eternal hunt for: The easiest-ever, throw-together soup that I still have time to make after work
Kitchen technique I just can't get right: Poaching eggs. I swirl the water, just like everyone says I should, but it never works. #fail
Follow me on Twitter @zoeabain.