#HealthilyEverAfter with Disney

The first Disney film POD ever watched was the original Sleeping Beauty which was released around 1960. It became a firm favourite of hers alongside other brilliant classics such as Snow White & the Seven Dwarves, Beauty & the Beast and The Jungle Book. She turned five on Christmas Day. Over the last couple of years or so she’s been able to experience a number of Disney greats – from Tangled, The Lion King and Big Hero 6 to Winnie The Pooh, Maleficent and Frozen. The latter still continues to dominate and last year saw POD dress up as Maleficent (Aurora was busy) – a costume that won her best dressed at school. She’s a huge fan of Pixar films too from Toy Story, Finding Nemo and Ratatouille to Monsters Inc, Monsters University and Inside Out. Mickey Mouse, Sofia the First and The Lion Guard are top of the list on the Disney Channel.

#HealthilyEverAfter with Disney Healthy Living

POD has an incredible imagination and a wonderful ability to tell stories at the drop of a hat. The characters she’s come across have certainly had an impact on her over the years. Disney’s #HealthilyEverAfter campaign has been designed to inspire life-long healthier behaviours in families through story-telling, imagination and play. Ten years ago Disney became the first major global media company to establish clear nutritional guidelines, which included working with partners to develop nutritionally balanced foods for children using its brands and characters. The #HealthilyEverAfter campaign continues Disney’s commitment to inspire families in the UK to be more active and healthy.

Walt Disney once said “adults are only kids grown up, anyway”. It’s so very true and being a parent provides us with the perfect excuse be silly again. Our children inspire us to get active because they’re adventurous, inquisitive and entertaining. POD has developed a love for the outdoors and she’s taught us a great deal over the past five years. Like ignoring the weather forecast on a quest to chase rainbows at the beach!

There’s nothing better than seeing the world through a child’s eyes. A case in point being a recent trip to Newlands Corner in Surrey (aka Pixie Hollow) where POD was transformed into Tinker Bell – a character who is also headstrong, loyal and fun loving. While we didn’t have Tinker Bell’s leaf design dress, POD opted for a pink one with a tutu beneath it. A wand, which she flashed at passers by, and fairy wings were obligatory attire along with the necessary wellies and coat. It was a beautifully sunny day but bitterly cold and muddy.

Like Tinker Bell, POD is brave and relishes leading the way on our adventures if she’s able to. On this occasion we were in hot pursuit of a man and his dog while on the hunt for blue dust in acorns. If we discovered it, POD told us, we’d be able to fly. Wand in one hand, wings in the other ‘Tinker Bell’ set about looking high and low for the blue dust. Only to discover it in the sky. Obviously. That’s always where it was going to be wasn’t it?We’re lucky that POD is mostly quite good with her food but we all need to encourage our families to eat our five a day. A brilliant way to do this is by re-creating your favourite Disney character. We were itching to create a Maleficent masterpiece but her rather large horns were a little to big for our plates.

Thankfully though, the Disney Healthy Living website is bursting with craft, play and cooking ideas. Like Captain Jake’s Watermelon Sword, Inside Out Memory Orbs and a Mike Wazowski Apple. Our absolute fave is the Winnie The Pooh Food Art – a fresh fruit feast with a honey twist. It’s super easy to make, oodles of fun and very tasty too.

Here’s what you’ll need:

2 strawberries
1 orange
1 slice of toast
1 slice of cheese
1 tsp of honey
A few blueberries
1 pear
150g plain flour
Water
Black natural food dye 

Winnie The Pooh’s eyes, eyebrows and mouth are made from black pancake. It’s best to make this first so it can cool while you’re crafting Winnie’s body. Just put the 150g of flour into a bowl and add water until it’s runny then whisk until it’s a crepe-like consistency. Add a few drops of the black colouring, the colour does darken when cooking, and pour some of the mixture into a oiled pan. Allow the pancake to cook on one side – don’t turn it over as you need it to be smooth. We cooked three pebble-sized portions and we had plenty.

While your black pancakes are cooling, you can start making Winnie. First thinly slice the orange, soaking up any excess juice with a paper towel. Cut off the tip of a strawberry to make his mouth then position the orange around it to make his face. Once you’re happy with the head you can add ears, arms and legs.

Cut the remainder of the strawberry in half, making a v shape at the top of it, and place below Pooh’s face. This will form his top. We had some interesting shaped strawberries so ended up improvising slightly and using two strawberries to form the v shape. Afterwards, you can use the rest of the orange to create Winnie’s belly with pieces of strawberry used to make the sleeves and a collar. For the eyes, put a straw into the black pancake – if it doesn’t come out easily you can just blow it out. The nose was made with a larger section of black pancake and we cut out the eyebrows and a mouth too.

Once Winnie was finished we made bees by cutting a few blueberries in half and we made a little of the cheese look like dripping honey. We then made our toast, cutting it into a circle before spreading honey on it and adding the cheese. We then repositioned Winnie’s arm so it looked like he had his hand in the honey pot and cut out the words “Pooh” in pear.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our #HealthilyEverAfter moments. To provide you with some inspiration, we’ve made a little video about our hunt for blue dust and how you can make Winnie The Pooh. Enjoy!

Disclosure: This post is part of Disney’s #HealthilyEverAfter campaign with BritMums, sponsored by Disney. Share your stories and be inspired at DisneyHealthyLiving.co.uk and live Heathily Ever After (#HealthilyEverAfter).