Your growing child isn't satisfied with three meals daily--he needs extra snacks to keep him full and ready for all of his daily activities. Snacking can become boring if you offer the same foods every day, and can become unhealthy if nutritious foods are not on the menu. Snack food ideas for kids can be healthy, fun and tasty all at the same time.
Crunchy and Healthy
To many people, not just children, a crunchy snack is the most satisfying. Crunchy snacks are usually associated with potato chips, crackers and other snack foods that are high in saturated fats and cholesterol. Ideas for healthier snacking for kids who love crunch can include offering popcorn--without the butter--which is high in fiber. Nuts such as almonds and walnuts--in their natural state, without salt--are crunchy and provide essential omega-3 fatty acids, potassium and magnesium. Just be sure the kids to whom you're serving nuts do not have an existing tree nut allergy.
Crunchy vegetables such as carrots, celery, bell peppers, broccoli and cauliflower are snack ideas that pack a punch in terms of nutrients and do not contain unhealthy fats.
Whole Grain Snacking
Whole grain crackers, tortillas, breads and breakfast cereals can all be transformed into snack ideas that your kids may find unusual and tasty. Top whole grain crackers or tortillas with low-fat cream cheese, peanut butter or refried beans for a healthy after-school snack or a school-day lunch. Snacking on a cup of fortified whole grain cold cereal--lower-sugar varieties preferred--provides your kids with fiber and a range of vitamins. Get creative with sandwiches and offer peanut butter and jelly or grilled cheese "sticks" by cutting each sandwich into four long strips.
Zippy Dips
Spice up your child's snacking with dips. Dipping makes snacking and eating in general more active, something which small children in particular enjoy. Dip ideas do not have to be fattening or full of sugar, but can be made with healthy ingredients to satisfy your child's physical hunger and hunger for active eating. The Washington, D.C.-based Center for Science in the Public Interest suggests offering your child low-fat salad dressings, salsa, hummus or peanut butter as dips for vegetables. Flavored yogurt is a colorful dip for fruit chunks. Pack a small, sealed container of dip and a bag of carrot sticks in a lunchbox for a school-time snack or serve a platter of salsa, vegetables and toasted whole grain tortilla wedges after school.
Creative Containers
Kids may become more excited over a snack based on the kind of container in which the food is placed. Creativity with the snack packaging might encourage your kids to try something new. Pack fruit salad or vegetable sticks into a Chinese takeout box, and offer your child chopsticks. Make a simple basket out of a coffee filter and a pipe cleaner and fill it with popcorn or whole grain crackers. KidsHealth from Nemours suggests a classic snack that might entice bug-lovers to eat healthier snack foods: ants on a log. Fill a celery stalk with peanut butter or cream cheese, and press raisin or dried cranberry "ants" into the filling.
Make Snacking Fun
Snacking can be fun for kids if they experience a different twist to the foods that are served. Present snacks buffet-style so each child can pick and choose what she likes and to offer variety. Organize a taste-off, suggests the Center for Science in the Public Interest--let your kids vote on which snack tastes best, which is the prettiest and so on. Make snacks that conform to a theme, such as foods that come from a country your children are studying, or tie in to a movie you have recently watched. All of these snack ideas create a broader palate in your children, and relate different parts of their lives into one larger experience.
Sweet Treats
Though the majority of your child's snacking should be healthy items that are low in saturated fats and provide them with essential nutrients, the occasional treat won't hurt. MayoClinic.com suggests keeping sweets and other junk foods like potato chips out of the house to prevent overindulgence and to promote healthier eating. Buying your child a candy bar as a special treat once in a while is healthier than having a stash stored in your cupboard, where the temptation is always present.
Low-fat or fat-free puddings and no-sugar-added ice creams might be ideas for your resident sweet tooth. These items can be high in calories, so enjoy them in moderation.
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