Planning a snack routine as part of a daily food plan for your children teaches them good eating habits. It also allows them choices when you involve them in the decision-making process. Limiting sweet snacks and beverages and substituting those that are healthier choices helps your child consume the daily nutrients needed for energy. Allowing your children to participate in choosing the snacks, planning and making the snacks is a way to encourage them to eat the treats, instead of the high calorie or empty calorie alternatives.
Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
The National Network for Child Care, or NNCC, suggests that children eat a minimum of three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit daily. Raw vegetables, such as carrots, celery, cucumber and zucchini are enjoyable when you dip them in ranch dressing, creamy Italian dressing or cream cheese. Fruits are an alternative replacement for the high-calorie junk food sweets and you can dunk them in peanut butter, fat-free whipped topping and yogurt. In addition, making a fruit salad with different types of melon, strawberries and pineapple makes a colorful treat.
Breads and Crackers
Bread falls under another food group in the pyramid and the NNCC suggest a minimum of six servings per day. Choosing a whole-wheat or multi-grain bread, cracker, pita or tortilla chips helps to add fiber in your child's diet and takes longer to digest. Adding cream cheese, cheese slides, peanut butter, ham, turkey and spreadable cheese are ways to curb the craving between meals. Rice cakes and animal crackers, which come in a wide variety of flavors, are additional ways to add a serving to your daily intake of bread.
Smoothies, Yogurt and Pudding
Making snacks with yogurt and milk helps to add an additional source of dairy into your diet. According to the NNCC, the minimum daily intake of dairy is two servings. Making a parfait with granola, fruit and yogurt adds a sweet combination of flavors and adds to the daily intake requirements in several food groups. Making a smoothie in a blender is a way to get your children involved and a fun way to make a snack by combining yogurt, fruit and milk. In addition, making a sugar-free pudding and topping it with a fat-free whipped topping is a filling snack alternative without consuming the high calories.
Dried Fruits
Eating dried fruits in moderation is a way to curb your sweet tooth in place of the processed sweets, especially when your children are on the go. Dried fruits, such as raisins, cranberries, plums, mango, pineapple and apricot, are snacks that contain natural sugar, and you can add them to nuts and pretzels to make a trail mix.
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