Pantry to fridge, pantry to fridge, back and forth like a tragically trapped animal.

"There's nothing to eeeeat!"

If your kids are interpreting their summer boredom as hunger, give them some creative snack preparation projects to overcome "refrigerator gaze".

You've probably noticed yourself that half of summer's reported hunger is as easily resolved with activity as it is with food. So you can clobber two problems at once if you let the kids prepare their own snacks. If they really are hungry, they can busy themselves with preparation, and then they'll have something yummy to eat afterwards. And if they're not really hungry, at least they've enjoyed a little diversion, and their treats will wait until they're ready.

The more of an active role kids have in actually choosing and creating their snacks and meals, the more aware they'll become as food consumers, and this is a great way in preventing childhood obesity. It also increasingly important today, with food marketing full of whiz-bang and clever advertising language that could make a brick sound healthy and delicious. But studies show that given healthy options, kids will very often eat more nutritious selections over junk food, especially if they have a hand in the choices and preparation.

And with this cool collection of options, they can. The idea with most of these snacks is not to give kids just something to eat, but something to do, and a hands-on role in their food choices, planning and preparation.

Gelatin is always a favorite summer snack food, and as long as your kids (or you) can handle the boiling water part, you can pretty much cut them loose with a box of gelatin and their imagination.

By using sugar-free gelatin, you can also cut out some of the calories at the front end to make room for the caloric freight of the additions. Have the kids think about what they get out of that trade-off. So what can they add? Of course, most canned and fresh fruits are great in a jel-o-mold, but so are grated carrots, radishes, beets and cabbage. Sliced celery and nuts and raisins are reliable favorites. Layering and setting, layering and setting, "stacked" gelatin molds can really draw out the creative process, especially if you throw a little milk into part of your gelatin to get pastel colors. Other indulgences: gummy worms or fish tucked into slightly set gelatin in a round glass bowl, and you've got an edible aquarium.

But if you can get them to try some adventurous eating, real fish-like tuna or salmon-with chopped celery and olives in unflavored gelatin made with lemony tomato juice can be a fun challenge. It's more of a texture sensation than a new flavor for most kids, so it might not be as hard a sell as you'd imagine.

And you can get a lot of mileage out of that texture if you capitalize on it. Remember that just by adding an envelope of plain gelatin to any of these concoctions and gelling it in a(non-metal) cake pan rather than a bowl, you can end up with finger-friendly, wiggle, bouncy fun food-that's still deliciously nutritious.

For a colder chill, simply freezing bits of fruit can offer a variety of refreshing finger foods. Let the kids cut up different fruits, sprinkle them with cinnamon or nutmeg for a little variety, and freeze them right up. Or for a fancier treat, dip them lightly in yogurt, then granola or crushed cereal or graham cracker crumbs.

Canned fruits work great too, laid out to freeze on waxed paper, then portioned into snack baggies, and you can have them think about how much a portion really ought to be. You'll want to buy varieties in lite syrup or natural juice to keep the sugar load down. Fresh grapes are great for freezing, and it's tempting to freeze them whole, right on the bunch, but have the kids cut them in half, just to be safe. A frozen grape lodged in the throat is no joke.

Preventing Childhood Obesity - So what else is cool and creative? Oh, the endless world of smoothies. There are whole cookbooks and even restaurant chains devoted to the drinkable dining delight, but your kids can use their imagination and grind almost anything up with a cup of yogurt and some juice, water or milk and a few ice cubes. Of course, those frozen fruits can substitute nicely for the ice cubes, too.

Some kids like using club soda to end up with a fizzy but thick drink, and diet ginger ale or lemon-lime soda works for that, as well, though you have to get used to the fizz factor in the blender. With a base of yogurt and the fluid of choice, kids can get very creative, especially with some taste-as-you go experimentation. But be mindful of the smoothie pitfall: with the variety of things we can add, the calories can really add up in these concoctions, and because we drink them, we often don't lodge those calories in our minds-and neither do our kids-so they could end up lodged on their behinds.

Of course, smoothies don't have to be sweet. A couple summers ago when a certain green fellow was all the rage in theaters, some kids we know invented a "Shrek shake" as a sort of "I dare ya," delight. With plain yogurt, flavored with a little salad dressing or spices, or green Japanese horseradish, a variety of vegetables-spinach, peas, broccoli-got whirred into green guzzles over that summer.

Some of these actually ended up on the dinner table, because heated up, a creamy green smoothie made with a little bouillon turned out to be an excellent soup.

And soups are another kitchen bonanza for kids, with healthy potential a-plenty. The old story of "Stone Soup" showed that a little collective cooperation, creativity and sharing could turn a bunch of nothing-to-eat into a feast. Chopped vegetables, a few herbs and bouillon cubes, and a pot of water, and they're off!

Of course, this gets heat into the picture, and if it's a hot day, you may not want something simmering on the stove anyway, but if you can live with that, many soups are easy to prepare and will make a light summer dinner that a kid can proudly serve as the chef du jour.

While some take more time than others in the preparation, some of these kid-friendly snacks actually require a little plain, old waiting for the finished product. But that's not always a bad thing as learning to have patients is a great way in preventing childhood obesity.

Next time they complain how boring their books and television and chores are, you can remind them of the sheer, blistering thrill of waiting for gelatin to set.

Through Thick & Thin: Preventing Childhood Obesity

Overcome the bored "refrigerator gaze" by cutting kids loose with a little kitchen creativity. With a little thoughtful shopping in advance, you can set your kids up to make healthy nibbles at a moments notice, or to turn the effort into a more time-consuming project that will forestall both boredom and hunger.