As registered dietitians, our clients (and friends!) frequently request ideas for healthy, quick-to-make snacks that their kids will enjoy. Here, we have a list of 20 kid-friendly snacks—and chances are you may have most of the ingredients in your very own kitchen! To keep your kids satisfied and to prevent energy crashes, mood swings and melt-downs, aim to always pair an energy-boosting carbohydrate with a source of protein, as you see we did below.
Also, note that we suggest low-fat (rather than full fat) dairy products to protect against heart disease as it’s the leading killer in our country and even kids show clogged arteries from their diet.
- Hummus or cottage cheese and raw vegetables such as carrots, jicama, red or green bell peppers or cucumbers
- Pretzels or celery with peanut butter
- Low-fat cheese and whole-wheat crackers
- Banana dog (spread nut butter on a slice of bread and wrap it around a banana)
- Low-fat or Non-fat Greek yogurt or regular yogurt and a piece of fruit
- Edamame (boiled soy beans for snacking)
- Fruit salad or fresh fruit dipped in yogurt
- Fruit smoothies (add low-fat Greek yogurt or milk)
- Trail mix made from nuts, dried fruit & whole grain cereal
- Fruit & Cheese kabobs (on skewers)
- Whole grain pita pockets stuffed with turkey or chicken or turkey breast, lettuce & mustard
- Mini pita-pizzas on whole grain pita, with low-fat cheese & veggies (make faces out of veggies or let your kids make them!)
- Go-go Squeeze (or other apple sauce) and string cheese
- Yogurt popsicles (simple freeze yogurt in popsicle molds)
- Quesadillas (use whole grain tortillas, low-fat cheese, veggies & melt in toaster oven; cut into triangles)
- Make-your-own healthy Egg McMuffin (whole grain English muffin, scrambled eggs & veggies)
- Whole grain waffles topped with almond butter and peaches (or favorite fruit)
- Oatmeal with cinnamon, apples, nuts and a touch of brown sugar
- Air-popped popcorn with nuts and cinnamon or parmesan cheese
- Rice Cake Pizzas (spread Greek yogurt or favorite nut butter & decorate with favorite fruit slices)
