I recently posted about the Alphabet Animal Special they had over at Little Nummies.  I had an idea to use it as a homeschooling tool since they posted links to free printables, facts and videos relating to the animal.

I was searching today for cupcake ideas for my daughter’s birthday.  I came across Family Magazine’s Cupcake Alphabet.  These could be used to go along with the letter used with the Alphabet Animal Special.  I will share my full plan for my 3 year old son really soon so that anyone interested could use it as well.

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I came across this really cute website called Little Nummies recently.  Having one picky eater on my hands, I understand how the creator of the site got started.  They recently had an Animal Special that I thought would be great to share with others.

This Alphabet Animal Special can be used in many ways:

1. Reference of ideas for daily lunches or snacks to change things up or get your toddler interested in trying to new foods (or just to get them to eat period!)

2. If you are homeschooling and your child is learning the alphabet, you could do the alphabet in order one day at a time.  Have lunch, go over the letter of the day and learn about that particular animal of the day as well.  Lunch, Alphabet and Animal Science – three courses in one!  Couldn’t get much better than that.

You can visit Little Nummies for this Animal special by visiting http://littlenummies.net/?cat=469 or to get other great food ideas visit the homepage at http://littlenummies.net.  For quick reference for myself and to share with others, I have put together a list of the Animals a-z, here.

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1 Safari Sub Sandwich-Small sub roll filled with lowfat meat,cheese, mustard or mayo, lettuce
1 “Tropical” banana
“Quicksand” pudding cup-butterscotch or vanilla lowfat pudding
1 cup “Rain Forest” veggies-broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, or any combination
1/4 cup lowfat dressing for dip
“Kings of the Jungle” animal crackers-8 large, 15 small

“Treasure Chest” of chicken-small plastic container with baked and cooled chicken fingers
1/2 cup carrot “Gold”-peel a large carrot, slice crosswise into coins
1/4 cup “Pearls”-yogurt covered raisins
1/2 cup lowfat “Pirate Pudding”-pudding cup, in your child’s favorite flavor
2 “Walk the Plank” pretzel rods

1/2 whole wheat pita filled with homemade lowfat tuna or chicken salad
1/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup crunchy O-shaped cereal
1 cup raw veggies
1/4 cup lowfat Ranch for dipping

Notes: The idea for this lunch is to include an index card with a tic tac toe grid drawn on it, so your child can use the raisins and cereal for Xs and 0s. But my sons assure me that lunch monitors would never let them play tic tac toe with their food, so they just eat without playing.