Snacks add extra nutrition to your diet and if you want to get the kids to eat them, you have to have fun healthy snacks. Otherwise, they'll find your secret chocolate stash and raid it when they're famished from an afternoon of play. How do you make snacks fun? Creativity is the answer. You don't have to get elaborate, remember, kids still have a great imagination that you can capture when you spin a yarn about the snacks.

Use cookie cutters and skewers to make your story come alive. If you're reading them a story about magic stars or outer space, cut slices of fruit and cheese. Then use a cookie cutter to cut out the shapes in your story or book. Put a skewer through the center and let the children eat along with the story.

Is there a "Monster at the End of the Book?" This book starring Grover can be a lot more fun when you create monsters out of sunflower or sesame seeds, Multi Bran Chex or MultiGrain Cherios, wheat germ, peanut butter, honey and raisins. Mix the peanut butter with the honey until you sweeten it to taste. Add cereal, seeds and enough wheat germ to make it easy to pack. Pack in the shape of a monster face complete with a nose and ears. Add the raisins for the mouth and eyes. You can sprinkle it with wheat germ to prevent it from being sticky. If you don't have honey, substitute Honey Nut Chex, Honey Nut Cherios or Cinnamon Chex for the sweet taste.

Make eating fun by using unusual utensils. Give the children chopsticks to eat a snack mix or create a snack in an ice cream cup for more merriment to their snack time. If you want to make it an ultimate challenge, create a pool by mixing blue food coloring into cream cheese dip. Cut celery slices and let the children dip. Now, their mission, should they decide to do it, is to catch some Goldfish, the fish shaped crackers not the real ones, on the end of their celery and then eat them. The crackers stick to the dip but it's not as easy as it looks.

Have the children help you create fruit and vegetable fun animals and designs. There's nothing better than making a masterpiece and then eating it. You can make mice from strawberries. First, cut a slice from the side so the strawberry sits flat. Secure mini chocolate chips with black icing as eyes and use the black icing for the nose. Almond slices make the ears and red lace licorice is the tail. To attach the tail, push a toothpick in the end of the strawberry and use that hole to insert the licorice. Cut a triangle of cheese for the mouse and your ready for a snack.

You can make faces on fruit with raisins, cheese and other fruit. Simply attach it with toothpicks. Other hits include small bite size containers like the mini mint cups you find at parties. They make the snack seem festive and special even when it's simply trail mix from a package. Your children will love snack time when you take a few minutes to make the snacks fun.