Last year, my 1st grader decided to try softball
for the first time and loved it…the new friends, the game play, the uniform and
hair bow...everything, including the end-of-the-game snacks. We were lucky to have a great bunch of girls
and parents on the team and we all adored our coaches! It seemed like a perfect fit for our family,
until it came to the snacks.
Candy. More
candy. Neon blue Gatorade. And a bit more candy. Yuck!
So, when it was my turn for game day snacks, I wanted to do
something much healthier but I knew I had to jazz it up a bit to compete with
Ring Pops and Pop Rocks.
Here’s how to make these Snack Players for your little
athletes!
Materials you’ll need per player:
2 mini
boxes of raisins (they come in bags of 12 = 6 kids)
1 juice
box (I like to find a matching color to the kids’ uniforms)
1 granola
or cereal bar
1 fruit
cup
2 googly
eyes or stickers
1 pipe
cleaner (matching color)
Ribbon (matching
color)
Hot glue
gun
Start by hot gluing the granola/cereal bar to the back of the juice box. Be sure not to place glue on the straw so it can be used easily later. I like to glue them together in two spots: the top left corner and bottom right (opposite of where the straw is located). It’s the right amount of glue to keep them in place, but the kids can still tear off the bar to actually eat and enjoy it. Make sure the bar doesn’t stick up too far above the juice box. You will want them somewhat flush when gluing on the fruit cup “head.”
Now that the body is nice and solid, I like to glue on the
mini raisin box feet. Arrange the boxes
so the wording on the box is right-side up (it just looks better that way). Separate them slightly in the front to make a
small “V” shape. Place hot glue on the
bottom of the juice box on the left and right sides. Carefully place the juice box “body” on the
mini raisin boxes somewhat centered…you want the feet to stick out just a little
in the front only, and to make sure it will balance on its own.
To prep the “head”, use googly eyes or eye stickers to make
your fruit cup face come to life. Be
sure to turn any writing or plastic tabs to the back of the body, hidden from
sight. I like to add a red sharpie smile
and hot glue a simple ribbon bow to the head.
I’d skip the bow when making baseball players!
***Note: Do NOT use applesauce in place of the fruit
cups. I learned the hard way that the
foil tops of the applesauce rip WAY to easily and cause a drippy mess when
trying to eat your snack. The plastic
tops of the fruit cups easily separate from the juice boxes even after being
hot glued into place. Trust me and learn
from my soggy mistake!
Before attaching the adorable little head you just created to the body, you need to glue on the pipe cleaner "arms." This year our team, the Spitfires, has orange jerseys...hence the VERY orange theme you're seeing. Simply fold the pipe cleaner evenly over the juice box to create two equally sized arms. Place a line of hot glue across the top of the juice box, near the fold to avoid covering up the drinking hole, and attach the pipe cleaner.
Then, dab hot glue on either side of the pipe cleaner to attach the head. This is why you want your granola/cereal bar flush with the top of your juice box...we want a nice, level surface for the head.
Tip: Go ahead and use more glue than you think. Luckily, the glue detaches from the fruit cup for easy eating, but the heads can also accidentally be bumped off if too little glue is used. Make sure those noggins stick with plenty of hot glue!
I should have used just a bit more glue to make sure the players were not accidentally decapitated!
Batter up! Bend the arms half way down the length of the pipe cleaner sides to create elbows. Using a clear plastic spoon (for eating the fruit cup), wrap the ends of the pipe cleaner arms around the handle of the spoon once or twice. Then, pull the spoon to one side and manipulate into place to resemble a bat. This might take a minute or two to finagle into place, but you'll get it to a place that looks good rather quickly.
Tada! You are DONE!
For even more baseball and softball fun,
check out my lunchbox jokes, notes, and water bottle wraps!
They're perfect for adding a little sporty fun during the school day or at practice. Click on the images below or on the Etsy tab above to snag yours!
