Simple and Easy Breakfast Ideas for Children

Oh if only there were a chef in our house!  They would be the most appreciated and revered individual in the Grant household - esteemed and adored.  

 But there's not.

Just me. 

And so breakfast is breakfast in our house, like everybody else and I have to face the dilemma weekly to think up original and tasty breakfast ideas.  Cereals?  Yep I do those but I know that they are not the best I can give my children and I want to give them the best and even cereal gets boring after a while. My children love variety and love surprises.

I normally rotate these ideas after a two week period and the choice I make for breakfast is based on how much time I have, what we are having to eat for the rest of the day, my budget and just plain ol' "if I feel like it".

What is a healthy breakfast?
I am of the opinion that breakfast needs to be:
*  an easy breakfast (no grinding wheat or milking cows- not that we have any, but just saying)
*  needs to be long lasting (as long as possible in fact before I need to drag myself back to the kitchen to prepare round two)
*  a healthy breakfast (this one is fairly debatable - but let's just say as healthy as possible, and if you aren't doing healthy, then start doing healthy one step at a time)
*  they need to be able to eat it (now this may seem obvious, but don't go mad and start preparing odd things that are not even recognisable all for the sake of some kind of health benefit - they must like what they are eating)
*  breakfast should be based on size/ age/ activity level (I have boys who are very active and need lots of energy, and I have a little girl who spends her days being a princess, their food needs are going to be VERY different)

Time is always a challenge especially for mom's who need to get their children up really early to head off to school.  I know it's really busy already with lunches that need to be packed, books to be found, uniforms to be put on - and all of this before your first cup of coffee (another reason I chose homeschooling - surely coffee is a good reason?).  However a lot of these ideas can be prepared the night before.

Breakfast Ideas

Here is what we eat on any given day (weekends included)

1.  French toast 

2.  Porridge - oats, mielie meal, maltabella, rice porridge 

3.  Scrambled eggs on toast

4.  Boiled eggs with toasty finger things (I forget their name)

5.  Muffins 

6.  Pancakes

7.  Cereal (yep it's there too)

8.  Home made rusks and tea.  (they simply LOVE dipping)

9.  Fruit and yoghurt and toast 

10.  Homemade muesli and yoghurt with banana or apple (in fact any fruit will work if they will eat it)

11.  Left Overs 

12.  Smoothies (this only works as an add on for us - my children never seem to believe that this could possibly be all they are getting)

13.  Scones (so many varieties to choose from and flexible and tasty like muffins)

And to make breakfasts even easier let your children do the preparation and cooking!  Who knows maybe you could even get some breakfast in bed and give up cooking permanently!  

I have decided to work on the most important meal of the day, do some research and try some new recipes for my children.  I will let you know what I find and what works.  What is my motivation?  Well I have a list of 13 breakfast ideas.  I have about another 40 to 50 years of living to do (conservatively speaking) which means that I have too-many-days-to-work-out-on-my-calculator-breakfasts to eat and prepare and I definitely do not want to eat these 13 things for the rest of my life.  Anyone else feel the same? 

What do you find is a winner for breakfast?  What works for you and your family.  I would love to hear your thoughts on preparing a healthy breakfast for kids, why not leave a comment or share a recipe?