Jungle Themed Bento Box Tutorial

This summer has seriously flown by and, while it feels like it shouldn’t be time yet, I’m in full swing on my back-to-school prep. I’ve been ordering clothes, picking out book bags and perhaps most importantly for my 7 years old, figuring out how to make lunch and snack time fun. You see, my little guy has a tendency to be a little bit of a picky eater. He wants to take his lunch to school every day so that he’s sure he’ll like it and truthfully, there are times that I run out of fun ideas. But this year, I’m mixing things up. I’m getting creative. I’m even becoming that mom that makes lunches look like (kindergarten level) art! With a few simple items that he insists are included in his lunchbox daily, like Dannon® Danimals®, and a little outside-of-the-lunchbox thinking on my part, I’ve been able to come up with some pretty fun lunch ideas for this school year. While I am mixing things up quite a bit, I recently created a Jungle Themed Bento Box and after seeing how much my little guy loved it, I had to share how to make this easy, delicious and perhaps most importantly kid-approved lunch idea with you!

Now, it’s only fair to admit that I love these cute little bento boxes that are all the rage right now. I can separate all of my little guys food and there is a place for everything. In addition to that, they inspire me. After all, a cute lunchbox requires cute food so while I’m not the craftiest mom on the block, I have been going outside of my comfort level and coming up with some fun lunch ideas. Here recently, my 2nd grader loves all things jungle related so I figured, why not create a Jungle Themed Bento Box! With just a little prep and some simple ingredients, making this creation was actually pretty simple and it paired perfectly with the fun and sometimes silly Dannon® Danimals® smoothies that he loves to have included in his lunch each day. I keep a variety of Dannon® Danimals® smoothies and squeezables on hand in the fridge at all times because they are a good source of calcium and vitamin D, have no artificial flavors, boast a delicious taste that kids like mine adore and best of all, are easy to find at my local Walmart by going in store or using the super easy and convenient Walmart Online Grocery Pickup! On my recent visit, I stocked up on Dannon® Danimals® Smoothies Strawberry Explosion/Banana Split Drink as well as Dannon® Danimals® Squeezables Strawberry Explosion Lowfat Yogurt so that I would have plenty of options to fill his lunchbox (and his belly).

After taking a closer look at the packaging and seeing him get so excited about the monkeys on the front, I decided I’d create a whole bento box lunch around the theme that’s right there on front of the Dannon® Danimals® packaging! Since he’s crazy about the Banana Split Smoothies right now, I decided to just go with it and have a little fun! After laying out my basic ingredients, I was ready to create a fun and easy Jungle Themed Bento Box that’s just right for back to school. Here’s a step-by-step tutorial of how to make it!

What You Will Need

2 Pieces of Bread

1/2 Banana

1/4 Cup of Peanut Butter

1/4 Cup of Large Dark Chocolate Chips

1 Peach or Orange

Crackers

Lettuce

Dannon® Danimals® Smoothies Strawberry Explosion/Banana Split Drink

How to Make It

I’ll totally admit that I’ve always been intimidated by cute bento boxes but this one was so easy to make! Inspired by my son’s love for Dannon® Danimals® Smoothies Strawberry Explosion/Banana Split Drink, I quickly whipped up a peanut butter, banana and dark chocolate monkey sandwich! To start, I simply used a round cup to cut two circles out of my two pieces of bread.

Next, I cut two smaller circles out of the left over pieces of crust for the ears. To create the monkey head shape that was really all I needed!

Once I had my pieces of bread cut out, I sliced my banana onto the bottom piece of bread and the placed the top piece on.

Now, I know that usually the peanut butter goes INSIDE the sandwich but watch what I was able to do by mixing things up a little bit.  After adding my peanut butter to a plastic baggie and cutting off the end, I piped on an oval for the mouth and did an outline of my monkey ears.

Next, I placed two dark chocolate chips in the place of eyes and melted the rest of the chocolate to pipe on two dots for a nose, some eyebrows and a mouth (seriously, there was so little chocolate used but my son thought it was so much fun!).

Once my face and ears were ready, my monkey sandwich was complete.  I added a little lettuce underneath it just for some color (OK, and truthfully in hopes that my kiddo would eat it) and then moved on to the other containers.

I filled one container with crackers and added some carrots to the second. Then I use a food writer to draw some tiger lines onto a peach. It’s truly amazing what a difference a little camouflage can make when it comes to getting my kiddo to eat different foods. Once I had my tiger (peach) and monkey (sandwich) ready, all that was left to do was add my Dannon® Danimals® smoothie and my son’s Jungle Theme Bento Box was complete.

I loved that with just a little effort and a little inspiration from my Dannon® Danimals®, I was able to create a cute and fun lunch that my kiddo loves, complete with a Dannon® Danimals® smoothie that I can feel good about feeding him!

As soon as he saw his Jungle Themed Bento Box, he got the biggest smile on his face. It was no surprise to me that he went for his Dannon® Danimals® smoothie first.

As he ate his Jungle Themed Bento Box, I knew without a doubt that I’ll be OK when it comes to creating back-to-school lunches that he loves! I’ll simply make sure I keep my fridge stocked with Dannon® Danimals® Smoothies (be sure to keep them refrigerated!) and Dannon® Danimals® Squeezables (they are perfect for freezing and putting in your child’s lunchbox for lunches or snacks).

Are you ready to stock up on Dannon® Danimals® for back-to-school to ensure you’ve got the perfect snack for school lunches, after school, during sports or homework and more on hand? If so, now is the time to do it because right now Danimals wants to help your kids start the school year off right! For a limited time, when you buy 3 participating Danimals® products, you will receive a $10 gift card for back to school supplies on Walmart.com! Find out more about this awesome deal by clicking here.

Then head in store at Walmart or use the easy Walmart Online Grocery Pickup service to stock up on your child’s favorite flavor of Dannon® Danimals® Smoothies or Squeezables today!

Now tell me, how do you make back-to-school lunches fun for your child with help from Dannon® Danimals®?