Healthy Breakfast Ideas for Kids

Everyone can cook a delicious and healthy breakfast for children, and today YMCA will tell you how to do it. It is important to remember that the health of a child directly depends on the quality of nutrition. If the baby refuses to eat in the morning, you need to turn on the trick and a little imagination to surprise the child with the dish.

What are the benefits of breakfast?

Breakfast is the first and main meal that should not be missed for many reasons:

Recovery of strength and energy after sleep. At night, a lot of energy is spent on sleep, and although the body and brain are resting, the body still expends a lot of energy that must be restored through calories, vitamins and minerals;
Improving metabolism. At night, during sleep, the metabolism stops or slows down, so in the morning it needs to be started by adults, this can be done with a cup of tea or water with lemon, but children need a full meal;
Activation of brain activity. With a constant morning meal, memory and brain function improves, concentration and efficiency increase;
Reducing the risk of developing many pathologies – cardiovascular, diabetes. With adequate nutrition, the immunity and protective functions of the body increase, thanks to which the child’s body is protected from many diseases;
Obtaining the rate of nutrients. Scientists have shown that most minerals, vitamins, antioxidants and other substances are best absorbed in the morning;
Healthy breakfasts for children contribute to the formation of a correct and beautiful figure. But if the breakfast is heavy and supper is light, the risk of obesity decreases many times. Most often, overweight people begin to gain weight in childhood due to improper nutrition, an excess of sweets and pastries that their parents indulge them with.

Features of the children’s diet

Children aged 3 years and older must receive all the necessary minerals and vitamins that provide physical and mental development. The child’s nutrition eats determines his/her further figure, the power of the muscular apparatus, and the development of the brain. The stronger the child is, the easier it is for him/her to adapt to the collective, to study in kindergarten and school.

Basic principles of nutrition for children:

Newborns feed on mother’s milk or adapted formulas, which contain the whole range of nutrients, after that – you need to carefully select the diet for the child;
Nutrition should supply the growing body with the necessary amount of calories for energy production;
The diet should be varied, but when composing it, it is necessary to consider some factors: the child’s taste preferences, food intolerance, etc.

Important: when cooking meals for children, one must observe the rules of hygiene and sanitary standards. If possible, you’d better process foods because raw vegetables and fruits in large quantities can disrupt the work of the gastrointestinal tract.

Delicious breakfast ideas: TOP 7

All children are different and some eat all meals with great pleasure, while others refuse to eat at least some food. To motivate and stimulate a child to eat, breakfast should not only be tasty and healthy but also beautiful and interesting. For example, if you decorate an ordinary sandwich in the form of a smiley, the child will be interested in eating it.

“Lazy” dumplings

It’s a curd dish that can be cooked very quickly, literally in 10 minutes. It is rich in calcium and a vitamin-mineral complex that a child needs for full development. You will need the following ingredients for a serving:

200 gr. cottage cheese;
40 gr. flour;
1 egg;
a pinch of salt and sugar.

Mix everything or kill in a blender, knead and roll into a tourniquet. Cut into small portions and immerse in boiling water for 7 minutes. Serve with sour cream or sweet sauce. You can prepare the dough and store it in the refrigerator.

Omelet

Eggs are very useful, but not all children agree to eat fried eggs. You can use some tricks and make a nice omelet. You need to knead 2 eggs, beat until smooth. Add a pinch of salt, meat or tomatoes. Fry until tender. When serving, garnish with sauce, herbs or cheese, make a mouth, ears, nose or forelock. If desired, the omelet can be baked in the oven or microwave.

Sandwich «Mobile phone»

It seems that a sandwich is the easiest and fastest dish you can make in the morning. But in order to surprise and delight the child, you can turn on your imagination and make a snack in the form of a mobile phone.

For this, you will need:

2 pieces of bread;
2 slices of ham (sausage, shank or meat);
4 slices of cheese;
20 gr. butter;
slices of cucumber and tomato (or red bell pepper).

Pieces of bread should be spread with butter and a slice of ham should be placed on top. Cut out the squares-buttons and the phone screen from the cheese. The small squares of vegetables can be used to represent the call and end buttons.

Potato pies

If your child has reached the age of 10, you can add some mushrooms to change the taste.

To prepare this dish, you will need the following ingredients:

300 gr. sifted flour;
50 gr. butter;
5 gr. yeast (better dry);
150 ml of milk;
2 chicken eggs or 4 quail eggs;
4 potatoes, 100 gr. mushrooms (optional);
a pinch of salt, pepper on the tip of a knife;
1 tbsp. olive oil.

The milk must be warmed up and poured into a container in which you will mix the dough. Add yeast and 150 gr. flour. Then add ghee and the rest of the flour, while kneading thoroughly, leave it for an hour, after which it is ready for further work. At this time, you need to make mashed potatoes, fry the mushrooms with onions for the filling and mix everything.

Then form pies, put on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. If you give them in a pan, they will be more fatty, which is not very healthy for the child.

Buckwheat porridge with milk and apples

This is a very satisfying and healthy dish for both adults and children.

You will need:

200 ml of water and milk;
100 gr. cereals;
1-2 apples;
10 gr. butter;
1 tbsp. sugar, salt – a pinch.

Sort the groats, wash and cook (10-15 minutes). When the water boils away, you need to pour milk, salt, add sugar and an apple (finely chopped or grated) and boil for another 7 minutes. When it cools down, serve the dish.

Casserole made from cottage cheese, meat, fish or vegetables

Here you need to consider the diet and the preferences of the child. For example, if your child doesn’t like fish, then there is no point in making a fish dish for breakfast. Regardless of filling, cooking technology is the same. It is necessary to chop the food and pour the sauce (salty for meat, fish or vegetables; sweet for fruit). The sauce is prepared with sour cream or beaten eggs. Then the dish is placed in the oven for half an hour. If the casserole is salty, sprinkle it with grated cheese on top 5 minutes before cooking. Decorate the dish as desired and serve. To speed up cooking, you can make a casserole in a multi-cooker.

Pizza sandwich

This dish can please a child of any age. You will need sausage, cheese, tomato, egg and bread. Slices of bread should be cut at least 1 cm thick and the crumb should be cut out. Finely chop the whole filling and beat with eggs, salt to taste. Fry the rim of bread on both sides, and then pour the filling into the middle. Garnish with herbs before serving.

In the end, it should be noted that a healthy breakfast for a child is the key to a successful day and good health. Parents should introduce healthy nutrition to their children. Of course, all kids love fast food, pizza or chips, but healthy breakfasts should prevail in the child’s diet.

Enjoy your meal!