My children would choose junk cereal over any other food in America.  I see how a bowl full of bright and multi-colored cereal with glistening sugar coating is a lot more interesting to a child than a tiny size bowl of homemade drab mushy oatmeal. 

I had hoped that by introducing playful oatmeal such as Dinosaur Eggs it would lead to healthier choices.  Epic fail.  This is still the only oatmeal my daughter will consider eating and she rarely eats this one.  The youngest will say she wants it so she can see the eggs turn into dinosaurs then walks away without eating it.     
   
The water has to be boiling hot in order to melt the dinosaur eggs otherwise the anticipation is like a dud firework.  The kids will watch and wait and scoot the cereal around until the egg pops open to reveal a colorful stegosauruses or triceratopses.  If too much time passes the food coloring on the dinosaur will bleed onto the oatmeal and once again look unappetizing.  The tiny dinosaurs are pieces of candy doused in food coloring and coated with a sugar shell.  The hatching process is really neat to watch, but the hard crunchy candy pieces do not add any value to the flavor.  

Only 1 out of 5 family members will eat this product.  Occasionally my daughter will choose it for breakfast but primarily prefers it as a snack.  The pouches are easy to use so she is able to prepare this herself.   In fact, that’s the only way she will eat it because the eggs will start to hatch as soon as the hot water touches it and that’s really the only reason why she is eating it. 

I tried some of this to get it out of the pantry.  Honestly, the Dinosaur Egg version tastes really good, as they should with the amount of sugar that is loaded into it.  This has 16g of sugar.  The oatmeal can be spruced up a little by adding cinnamon to help aid the digestion of the sugar and some walnuts for added protein.  The flavor is basically oats and sugar. 

Unfortunately I don’t have time to read boxes at the store.  The kids look at the picture on the box and decide if they like it or not.  Did I think getting them to try oatmeal was a win for me?  Yes, at first.  After reading the box the victory is overshadowed by 4 food colorings, tons of sugar and partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil.  When I make oatmeal it only has 2 ingredients.  Still, there’s not a big demand for this in our house to have to worry about it.

The photo on the box is bright and interesting especially to anyone who is a fan of dinosaurs.  The colorful little hatching eggs and bright color dinosaurs will lure children in and distract them from the oats.  There are 8 packets inside each box (as opposed to 10 in the regular flavor) and retail for up to $4 a box.

Ingredients:  Whole Grain Rolled Oats (With Oat Bran), Sugar, Dinosaur Egg Shaped Pieces (Sugar, Dextrose, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and/or Cottonseed Oil, Maltodextrin, Confectioner's Glaze, Magnesium Stearate, Soy Lecithin (An Emulsifier), Modified Corn Starch, Red 40 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake, Artificial Color, Blue 1 Lake , Bleached Beeswax. Carnauba Wax, Natural and Artificial Flavors), Natural and Artificial Flavors. Bone Shaped Pieces (Sugar, Rice Flour, Confectioner's Glaze, Partially Hydrogenated Cottonseed and Soybean Oil, Cornstarch, Dextrin, Modified Food Starch, Cellulose Gum, Carnauba Wax, Carrageenan, Bleached Beeswax, Artificial Color, Gum Tragacanth, Yellow 5, Artificial Flavor), Natural and Artificial Flavors (Contains Wheat, Soy, and Milk Components), Salt, Calcium Carbonate (A Source of Calcium), Guar Gum, Caramel Color, Niacinamide (One of the B Vitamins), Vitamin A Palmitate, Reduced Iron, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (One of the B Vitamins), Riboflavin (One of the B Vitamins), Thiamin Mononitrate (One of the B Vitamins), Folic Acid (One of the B Vitamins).

Recommended: No