This week's Great Bento Idea comes from a mom of 2 in Finland, Karaimame!

The original idea behind charaben, or cute decorated bentos, is to encourage picky kids to eat a variety of foods. Nowadays of course, charaben have gone off in all kinds of directions and are made by, and for, adults as much as they are for kids. But these two cute bentos bring the concept right back to its original intention.

Karaimame is a mother of two little ones living in Finland (though she's originally from Brazil and has Japanese parents), who's just recently started a bento, cooking and crafts blog, which you should definitely check out. These 2 bentos were made for her daughters, who love kirahvi (Finnish for giraffe). The giraffes are made out of sliced cheese, carrot and nori seaweed. If you look at the boxes closely, you'll see that except for the giraffes, the bentos are quite straightforward, with a variety of different foods. As she explains on her blog, she uses a bit of deception (including the giraffe) to encourage her kids to eat their vegetables and other foods. You may not be as skilled as Kararimame at doing cute cut-outs, but you can take her ideas for 'fooling' picky kids into eating their lunch too.

Look for more Great Bento Ideas next week!

(If you want your idea to catch my eye by the way, the best way is to join the Just Bento or Just Bento Bento Gear groups on Flickr and post them there. Don’t forget to post a link to your blog in the description if you have one.)