I don’t know about you, but I have one adventurous eater and then another who would live on pizza alone. It can be a real challenge to get him to try new things without gagging at the thought of it! I’ve found that making meals a little playful helps my picky eater to get on board, and takes the stress out of mealtime. Since breakfast is supposed to be the most important meal of the day, and eggs are not on the top of Mr. Picky’s list, I decided to get a little creative.

I remember going to the pool with friends as a kid and pretending that we were synchronized swimmers. We would come up with ridiculous routines that we would perform for the moms. Thank goodness they didn’t have smartphone cameras and social media back then! Anyway, I have always been fascinated with synchronized swimming, right down to the vintage swim caps. It would be so fun to host a party involving the sport, and thought that we would give it a shot this summer. Swimming takes a lot of energy, and eggs are a great source of protein, so why not serve some swim-capped eggs before your next pool party or swim meet? You can make some ladies with flower-adorned caps, and some gentlemen with plain ones for the boys. Maybe add some goggles! They’re sure to make an otherwise typical breakfast a huge hit with the kiddos!

• Hard-boiled eggs
• 9-inch balloons
• Permanent markers (black and pink)
• All-purpose glue
• Scissors
• Small fake flowers

Step 1
Use scissors to cut off the part of the balloon that you would blow into. Keep about 1-1 ½” of the top of the balloon.

Step 2
Place the balloon “swim cap” on the narrow end of your hard-boiled egg. You may decide to cut it down a bit more, or even it out. Once it is cut to your liking, cut the fake flower(s) of your choice off their stem, as close to the flower as possible. Now decide where you would like to place the flowers, and glue them onto the swim cap using all-purpose glue. Leave the swim cap on the egg, and place it back in the refrigerator while allowing the glue to dry.

Step 3
Once the glue has dried, draw a face on the egg using permanent markers. You may draw eyelashes, rosy cheeks, freckles, a mouth, goggles, etc.

• Fig. 1 – For the eyes, draw a short and wide “U” a little over a ¼” beneath the swim cap, and a second one about a ½” from the first.
• Fig. 2 – Add short, wispy lines for eyelashes on the outer edges of the eyes, or across the entire eye. It is fun to make each egg a little different.
• Fig. 3 – Draw a third squatty “U” about ¼” below and between the eyes to create a mouth.
• Fig. 4 – Add small pink circles under the eyes, and slightly above the mouth for rosy cheeks. If you want to add freckles, use a black permanent marker to add some tiny dots on and around the cheeks.

Now your eggs are ready to serve! You could arrange them as synchronized swimmers, divers, or place them in crushed graham cracker “sand” for a beach scene.

Happy crafting!