Pensacola with Kids

Healthy Snack Options for Kids

March 26, 2020 By jenrun

Kids are home these days, “social distancing”, and parents are working from home for the same reason. Everyone is over-stocked up on food, but do you have the right food for healthy snack options?

Many pre-packed, processed snacks are actually unhealthy and full of refined flour, added sugars, and artificial ingredients. The last thing you need is for your child that is already stressed and dealing with change beyond their control to crash or be over-excited due to what they are eating. Or even worse, not have enough essential vitamins and nutrients in their bodies to fight off colds and viruses. Kids will get hungry during the day, even more so now that they are outside more and being more active than they are on a normal school day. So sneak some healthy nutrients into their snacks!

Here is a list that we came up with (through trial and error and research) to help you feed them food they need to give them the right amount of energy and nutrients to get through each day, especially with being at home all the time these days.

*Yogurt – get the plain and sweeten it with honey
*Popcorn – pop your own and then drizzle with a touch of butter, Parmesan cheese, or other healthy toppings
*Celery with Peanut Butter and even add some raisins
*Apples with peanut butter or other nut butters (we use almond that we make ourselves at our house)
*Nuts and seeds – just be careful of allergies, we eat a lot of almonds, cashews, walnuts, sunflower, pumpkin
*Trail Mix – if you get store bought, stay away from the ones with chocolates, if you make your own, use non-sugar cereals, nuts, pretzels, coconut, dried fruits and pretty much anything else you have
*Sliced/Chopped fruit – Pears, Strawberries, Cantaloupe, Kiwi, Grapes, Apples, Oranges, Bananas, Watermelon – we always keep fresh fruit ready in the fridge. Bagged in snack bags or containers, as well as a bulk container ready for refills
*Cottage Cheese
*Oatmeal – sweeten with cinnamon and apples, honey, blueberries….you can also make strawberry oatmeal bars (or other fruit bars)
*Cheese – a slice or the round Babybel type, or the Laughing Cow
*Veggie Pita Sandwich – Hummus with lots of chopped up veggies (cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce (not iceberg), bell peppers)
*Cherry tomatoes – my son eats them like candy right out of the container
*Fruit Smoothies – if you can, use spinach or kale and blend it with the fruit and yogurt, it’s an added bonus they kids won’t even know it’s there!
*Banana Oat Cookies
*Raisins
*Turkey Avocado Roll up
*Baked Sweet Potato Fries (or we actually use our air fryer)
*Pickles
*Kale Chips (we use our air fryer for these too)
*Roasted Chick Peas (my 9 year old loves these)
*Veggies Cut up/Chopped – dipped in hummus or ranch or guacamole
*Whole-grain crackers and nut butter
*Whole Fruit – oranges, apples, bananas, pears, grapes- we keep on hand all the time
*Olives
*Frozen Fruit Popsicles – make with real fruit
*Half of a Sandwich