Many folks have asked me for some ideas on healthy fun snacks.  If you are looking for snacks you can serve your kids that will bring a smile to both of your faces then look no further.  The best snack for kids is one that is tasty, healthy, easy to prepare, and fun!  The stress is on the tasty, ease of preparation and health benefits.  The fun comes in how it is served: the snack basket!

 

I had a neighbor who would get very frustrated with his children because they were always asking for snacks.  He wouldn't let them eat snacks because he thought they would "ruin their dinner"!  The problem?  He wasn't serving healthy fun snacks, he was supplying snacks from his cabinets that were really sugar snacks disguised as "fruit", chips, pretzels, candy, granola bars, etc.  In other words, junk food. The children wouldn't eat dinner because they were full of junk that doesn't digest and eliminate well. Those types of foods are also full of sugar, fat and salt over stimulating the taste buds and little bodies.  All that sugar and salt made way for picky eating at the dinner table as well.  What little vegetables that he did offer were refused, ignored or safely tucked away beneath the napkins and tablecloth! 

I believe it is ok for my daughter to graze and snack because I offer her healthy fun snacks!  What fun food ideas for kids do I offer up?  I make a snack basket!  Having small portions of many food options gives her the best snack for kids a child could ream of!  It gives her the chance to pick and choose and keeps me from the kitchen shackles, washing, cutting, cleaning up, etc.  YAY for the snack basket! 

I leave the basket snack for kids on the table starting after breakfast until 1 hour before lunch and then after lunch until about an hour or so before dinner.  It holds many items but in very small portions.  I use small glass ramekins and put in each one a handful of something delicious and healthy.  Today's basket contained; fresh pineapple chunks, celery sticks, pumpkin seeds, pecans and romaine lettuce shreds. (It may sound strange to some, but my daughter loves lettuce, partly due to the snack basket and also to the eat-healthier-foods-method I employ! :) When she comes into the dining room and sees the basket she smiles so wide, gives a little shriek of excitement and does a dance.  She now has many opportunities throughout the day to exercise her right to decide and choose! (This rolls over into many aspects of my particular parenting style.)

Contrary to what you might think, she eats less than if I did not have the basket out and what she does eat is great for her. There is no arguing about what to eat or whining about her options because she knows she has to choose from the basket. (And it is filled with great options!)  She still has a great appetite for her meals and eats well.  

Healthy fun snacks for kids can be great for adults, as well!  Make yourself a snack basket for home or work this week as well as one for your child or children (or share the main house snack basket if you stay home together) and see how it changes up the family’s eating habits!  When you have healthy fun snacks available, say bye-bye to constant requests for food, the break room vending machine and hello to healthy goodness for everyone!



Snack basket contents suggestions!

NUTS and SEEDS! (Keep them raw.  Just say ‘no’ to excess salt or oils)

-Pecans

-Almonds

-Walnuts

-Brazils

-Macadamias

-Cashews

-Pumpkin Seeds

-Sunflower Seeds

-Fresh coconut chunks (yes, it is a seed!)

 

FRUITS

-Apple slices (a cool trick for reigniting the love of apples among kids that may have grown bored with the same old apple slices is to simply serve it differently!  In the snack basket, sliced extra thin or extra thick or with a dipping bowl filled with raw almond butter.  Or cut the apple in half, core it and fill the middle with almond butter. It is amazing how serving a snack for kids in a new way can get them on board with something healthy, green, or routine!)

-Berries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries…

-Bananas (sliced, whole, or keep the peel on and cut it into thick rounds or just cut it in half.  Keeping the peel on will help keep the banana fresh and pale in color, not brown which can turn kids off!)

-Grape or cherry tomatoes red, yellow or both.

-Grapes

-Mango chunks

-Pineapple chunks

-Dried fruits; goji berries, raisins, mango, pineapple, dates, apples, etc.

 

VEGETABLES (raw)

-Carrots

-Celery (A tip for serving this snack for kids: take a veggie peeler and peel away the strings from the celery, or you can use a small knife by gripping the strings at the top of the celery with your knife blade and thumb and peeling down.

-Romaine Leaves (especially the crisp smaller ones.  A cool way to serve your almond butter is in a romaine leaf!  Stay away from breads and crackers and put almond butter and honey or sugar free jam on the leaf and roll up.  Instant PB&R!)

-Red, yellow or orange bell peppers

-Beets, raw and cut into matchsticks

-Radishes

-Cucumbers

 

Just go for it! For healthy fun snacks use small bowls and offer plenty of options.  Place the bowls in the middle of your table and watch this snack for kids get eaten up so fast, they won’t know it is great for their growing bodies!

Stay away from breads, crackers or other wheat products, sugary foods, dairy products and packages foods.  Kids get enough of this stuff already.  Also, do not make a big deal out of what is offered.  Simply let your kids know that this is what they have to choose from in between meals; nothing else.  If they do not like some of the options, that is fine.  Try this method to get them to enjoy new foods.

Use this snack basket as your opportunity to make healthy foods, delicious and fun!



In peace and good health!

Kirsten