Yan Yan – learning with food

I recently discovered a Japanese snack called Yan Yan. I don’t recall ever seeing Yan Yan while I was in Japan, but I found them for sale from Tofu Cute (an online shop selling kawaii things and Japanese snacks such as Pocky). I was sold on Yan Yan when I discovered they are not only a snack, they are educational too…

First, let me tell you about Yan Yan as a snack. Yan Yan comes in a pot like this:

The pot is half filled with biscuity sticks, and the other half contains a serving of flavoured icing-like goo. Yan Yan comes in chocolate, strawberry, vanilla and yoghurt flavours. I went for the vanilla one, which was sickeningly sweet, but quite yummy and addictive.

They remind me of Choc Dips, which I used to love as a kid. But Yan Yan, made by Japanese sweets company Meiji Seika, are more than just sugary snacks – they come with a message!

Each stick has the name of an animal, an accompanying picture, and a little message in English printed on it.

I’m not sure quite what the purpose is of these messages – some seem to be advice (Mouse – Do not be timid), others are facts (Giraffe – Tallest mammal), and others are just… odd (Whale – Biggesy mammal).

Japan, you and your snacks have done it again! 😉