Snacking! The world seems to have gone snacking mad. My children seem to be snacking all the time and I’ve turned into a mobile fridge! We’re all on the go a lot more and with that comes hungry children, so we arm ourselves with various healthy snacks to abate these incredible appetites.
Check out my top tips for parents looking for healthy snack ideas for their kids while they’re out of the house.
Healthy snack ideas for kids
It’s quite boring thinking about what snacks to take out, especially when you want them to be healthy, and they can be expensive unless you make your own.
So after conversations with other families and hearing their similar stories I drew up a list of healthy snack ideas to stick on the fridge. I involved the children and once we’d got past the sweets, crisps and chocolate ideas, they were rather helpful!
Firstly, I’d say stick to specific times to have your snacks. Children like routine and it stops them eating continually and ruining appetites at meal-times. I would also say make sure you have a good selection of containers, whether they are bought or recycled from other things you’ve eaten. Finally, you can get loads of ideas for recipes on the internet or make up your own with the children, anything goes and don’t forget these won’t just be eaten by them, the whole family can enjoy a healthy snack.
- Banana muffins or banana bread – try different sizes and shapes to keep interest!
- Courgette and cheese mini muffin bites
- Fruit, such as strawberries and grapes along with some cheese cubes
- Leftover pancakes – if you’ve made some in the morning they taste great later on too!
- Sandwich bites – basically sandwiches with fillings like jam, peanut butter, Marmite, cream cheese cut into smaller bite-size cubes. Makes them more exciting and less like a sandwich!
- Rice Krispie cakes (made with oats, coconut, and brown rice syrup)
- Melon – cut up before you go out
- Homemade granola bars – there are loads of recipes for healthier versions you can freeze
- Popcorn – make it at home, it’s so cheap and great fun
- Claudi & Fin Mini lollies are a welcome treat when you turn up at the school gates on a hot day with them in a cool bag… give it a try!