I love having healthy snack ideas listed in my home. My kids often forget what snacks are available. And they often forget what foods qualify as snacks. In our house cookies & chips are more treats. And my kids like to try eat treats after school instead of snacks. Having a list posted helps give my kids ideas which snack to make and it makes snack time go a lot smoother. Our after school routine starts with a snack before they have to start on their homework. They can’t hang out with friends or play until they are done with homework. So I’m always wanting to move snack time along so we can get homework complete. The faster I can get them out the door to play the better.
Here are some healthy snack ideas:
- Apples slices and Peanut butter
- Celery and Peanut butter (my kids love adding raisins to make Ants on a Log)
- String Cheese
- Veggies and hummus (carrots, celery, bell peppers, cucumbers)
- Veggies and ranch (not as healthy as hummus, but it works)
- edamame
- Sugar snap peas
- Energy Bites
- Bran Muffins (so easy to make)
- Orange Slices, grapes, pears, and other fruit
- cottage cheese with peaches or pinneapple
- Air popped corn (You can find an air popper here)
- Yogurt (they love to have granola with it or fruit)
- Trail mix (I make them measure it by the tablespoons or else we would run out)
- Pepperoni (perfect for my diabetic)
- Pita bread with hummus
- Rice cakes
- Almonds
- Eggs: scrambled, sunny side up, etc.
- Smoothies (I love using these cups to help with portions.)
You can post these on chalkboard contact paper or make a list on paper and stick it inside your pantry cupboard. Having a list helps kids (and adults) know their options. I know I’m a visual person too. I love this chalkboard sticker so I can erase things like trail mix that gets eaten quickly. Things like pretzels, goldfish, and graham crackers are okay for every once in awhile, but I’m trying to encourage my kids to have ‘growing food’. (Well, I suppose popcorn isn’t exactly growing food.) I also suggest having serving sizes to help kids with portion control when it comes to snacks. It’s not that my 12 year old, with super metabolism, can’t handle having a cup of trail mix. I am just trying to watch my food budget and make sure he has a good appetite for dinner, which usually happens about 2 hours after snack. Measuring food is a great way to teach moderation.
I give my kids the example that it’s great to eat carrots, but what if that was the only vegetable we ate? The idea is we should eat fruits and vegetables from every season. Having a variety will help us get lots of vitamins and minerals. It might even be helpful to look up what fruits and veggies give us what vitamins. This really helped my kids better understand why every vegetable is important. So serving foods using portions helps us eat a variety of growing foods.
I love using the words ‘growing food’ with my kids. We are teaching the idea food is like fuel and if we want our bodies to be strong, able to fight off sickness, and healthy. We need to give our bodies healthy fuel to keep our bodies working. Other foods, like treats, are fine in moderation. But most of our meals should be ‘growing food’. Remember not to talk about weight or use the word fat. Our bodies are made to help us do things like dance, run, serve, play, and have fun. It’s not about looking a certain way. Don’t stress about how we look but rather how we feel when we eat healthy food.
It can be hard to encourage our kids to choose a healthier option. But having a variety of choices, posting a list, and talking about why we choose growing food can give our confidence to make great choices. And it’s nice to get out of a rut if your snack choices need some new ideas. In fact if your family has some favorite snack ideas we missed I would love to hear about them in the comments!
Hope this list of 20 healthy snack ideas gives you some ideas on what to serve your family. It may takes kids some time to eat fresh veggies and fruit if they are use to goldfish and chips. Modeling good eating habits is important. Best of luck finding healthy snacks that fit best for your family.
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