Snacking helps children satisfy hunger quickly between meals. Snacking also provides extra essential nutrients that serve as fuel for a growing body, so the quality of the snack is an important factor. Some snacks, like fried potato chips and candy, can actually be damaging to a child's health. But when a parent provides and encourages healthy alternatives, snacking can be a nutritious way for a child to satisfy hunger between meals.
Fruit
Fruit, which is loaded with vitamins and minerals, is an inexpensive tasty choice for a nutritious snack. Kidshealth.org suggests chopping up apples, bananas and grapes for fun kabobs. Many fruits also come dried, making them convenient for quick snacking on their own. Bananas can be frozen and blended with a little bit of milk for an icy cold smoothie.
Yogurt
Yogurt is a cheap, healthy snack; it is a good source of calcium. Although it is tasty all by itself, yogurt can also be the base ingredient in other yummy snacks. Diced fruits can be mixed with yogurt, then frozen onto a Popsicle stick. Yogurt can be blended into smoothies or mixed with granola made of sunflower seeds and raisins.
Vegetables
Vegetables are excellent sources of vitamins and minerals. Serve them raw with dip or dressings. Some grocery stores sell baked vegetable snacks, like seasoned puffs and chips. If a child is a picky eater, shredded vegetables can be hidden inside muffins, pancakes or breads. Another way to make vegetables more attractive to kids is to make a snack bowl out of half a green pepper. That way, they can eat the bowl too when they finish with their snack.
Snack Mix
Snack mixes are a healthy, inexpensive choice for snacking. Many stores sell healthy combinations of nuts, pretzels, whole grain cereals and fruit. Combinations like these are full of iron, magnesium and zinc. Snack mixes can even be made at home using things that may already be in the pantry. Pretzels, dried fruit, nuts and cereal can be a terrific alternative to potato chips or popcorn.
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