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Healthy Snack Ideas for Kids

February 22, 2017 | Healthy Child

Healthy Snack Ideas for Kids - Just because it's 'just a snack' doesn't mean it should lack nourishment! This post will get you thinking about healthy, easy to prepare snacks.

I think about food a lot – not only eating it but how I can create the most flavoursome and nourishing  meals and snacks possible. It’s not uncommon for me to wake in the night and write a recipe in my head – that’s the slightly obsessive side to my personality I’m revealing, ha ha!

So coming up with a variety of meals and healthy snacks for my family has always come fairly easily to me; in part because of my preoccupation with food but also because of my love of cooking (plus many years studying nutrition has helped too).

Also, having first hand experience of being seriously unwell really motivates me to prioritise my time to ensure my family are getting as much nourishment from their diet as possible. Doing what I can to ensure the very best health for myself and my family is super important to me (you can read more about my past heart condition here and Graves disease here).

In my experience, snacks are often where many kids diets are let down with most commercially available ‘snack’ food not only nutritionally void, but often actually detrimental to good health and development. Just because it’s ‘just a snack’ doesn’t mean it should lack nourishment! Snacks are very different from treats in my mind. So today I thought I’d share my thoughts and ideas on healthy snacks for kids.

Anytime food

My first recommendation when coming up with an easy to prepare ‘snack’ for your kids is to drop your preconceptions about what food actually constitutes a snack. Changing your mindset around certain foods being more suitable at certain times of the day will actually really help to simplify how you feed your family all round.

My point is that any whole food can be eaten at any time, in any way. It is a food marketers dream to have us believe that certain foods are ‘breakfast’ or ‘dinner’ or ‘snack’ foods, or that the yoghurt in those expensive baby pouches is any better for our babies than the big (less expensive) tubs of natural yoghurt on the adjacent shelves. I can feel a rant coming on!

Healthy Snack Ideas for Kids…

The short answer is if your kids are hungry, feed them any whole food they like, portioned to satisfy them, but not spoil their appetite for their next meal.

Still drawing a blank? Here are some examples of the kinds of things my kids might have as snacks. It’s not a complete list as my kids dwell in a household where I am constantly recipe testing and experimenting with wonderful food, but it’s a snapshot…

  • a snack is often a small portion of a leftover meal, sometimes reheated or often even cold if they are happy to eat it that way (as we don’t have a microwave)
  • soups make amazing, nourishing snacks for kids and are a great opportunity to get your kids eating more veggies. It’s pretty simple to make up a big pot of their favourite soup and freeze it in recycled glass jars. I often heat it up and pop it in a thermos for my kids to drink in the car on their way to after school sport.
  • my kids love antipasto type plates with perhaps some cheese, crackers, olives, gherkins or pickled onions. I often throw on a piece of fruit or some raw veggies too.
  • fill kids up on fruit that has some protein with it. Apple with nut butter or cheese is delicious. Fruit kebabs (with cheese between) appeals to lots of kids.  A good ‘ole banana is packed with goodness and great fuel before after school sport.
  • celery sticks with tahini or nut butter is delicious. My 9 year old this week tried and loved carrot sticks smeared with nut butter (my kids like to experiment, though I don’t recommend rocket blended in smoothies as my 9 year old once tried, though spinach, having a milder flavour works well).
  • nuts and seeds are great snacks for kids. I have some ways to make them extra delicious here. In a large recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, regular consumption of nuts (over 5 times a week) was linked to significantly lower inflammatory biomarkers. So in a nutshell, regular consumption of nuts can reduce chronic inflammation and associated diseases.
  • biltong, jerky or air dried meat is a real favourite in our household. Just make sure you source a brand with no hidden nasties.
  • a boiled egg with perhaps some fruit or veggies is a filling, simple snack.
  • veggies and dip is really popular too. Hummus or pesto are our favourites.
  • frozen yoghurt cups are on high demand, especially in summer. You can freeze any leftover smoothie or follow a recipe like my Fruit Whip, here.
  • berries, nuts and natural or unsweetened Greek yoghurt is much more nourishing than processed ‘flavoured’ yoghurts.
  • a fruit smoothie is another favourite in our household. They can also be stored in a thermos flask to keep them cold.
  • I also bake batches of cookies, slices and savoury crackers and keep them in the freezer so that I always have a healthy, nourishing snack to grab and go. My Protein Bars are very popular after school snacks and can be eaten from frozen. ALL of the 50+ nut-free recipes in “The Well Nourished Lunchbox” ebook make great snacks and can be frozen to help save time.

Well that’s it for healthy snack ideas for kids. Remember, any whole food your kids enjoy is good to snack on.

Next week, I plan to share a recipe for my healthy version of 2 minute noodles and a firm favourite in our household. Stay tuned!

 

I’d love to hear your snack ideas, post a comment below so we can all benefit.


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Category: Healthy Child Tags: healthy snacks

Reader Interactions

10 Comments

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  1. Amanda says

    Hi Georgia,
    I love all of your suggestions here and use many of them frequently. In the same vein, I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for healthy food for school ‘cake’ stalls / sports days? I’ve done smoothies and fruit so far. Food can’t be heated and can’t contain nuts.
    Many thanks!

    February 24, 2017
    Reply
  2. Georgia Harding says

    I often revert to my Vanilla Bean Cup cakes for cake stalls, https://wellnourished.com.au/vanilla-bean-cupcakes/ or one of the many recipes in my Well Nourished Lunchbox ebook (all are nut-free, easy to make and very nourishing) G x

    February 25, 2017
    Reply
  3. Kez says

    Thanks for this post Georgia – I’m always trying to come up with creative snack ideas for my two little ones. They both love fruit which is great but not 5x a day! Luckily they both devour most foods but thanks for the tip about soup, I will definitely try that a bit more especially heading into winter.
    I made the Vanilla Bean Cupcakes just this week and they are delicious, I’ll be doing another batch this afternoon for the freezer – if they make it there!
    Kez

    February 27, 2017
    Reply
    • Georgia Harding says

      You’re welcome Kez. G x

      February 28, 2017
      Reply
  4. ling says

    Hi Georgia I love your suggestions of using broth in so many ways of cooking. Just wonder when you say you stored them in recycled glass jar then heat it up, how do you do it please? I love broth but it’s so much work to prepare it on each use since I don’t know the proper way to store it. Thank you! Your list looks amazing, definitely going to try them!

    November 26, 2017
    Reply
    • Georgia Harding says

      Hi Ling, so I strain the broth into lots of different sized jars (leaving a good inch or so at the top of the jar for it to expand when frozen). To defrost I either pop it in the fridge overnight to defrost or defrost on the kitchen bench until liquid and use or reheat as required. Hope this helps G x

      November 26, 2017
      Reply
  5. Carmel says

    Just a question on the bone broth storage- is it ok to freeze in glass jars? Does the glass not crack?

    December 5, 2017
    Reply
    • Georgia Harding says

      Yes I always freeze in glass jars. Just leave a good inch at the top of the jar to allow for it to expand and it won’t crack. Cool fully before freezing too G x

      December 6, 2017
      Reply
  6. Nicole Barrett says

    I have a toddler that he grazes all day so this post is pertinent to him. He loves the squeeze yoghurts and I only realised recently how bad the flavoured yoghurts are, we now put Greek yoghurt in Sinchies and he likes that. He loves dairy products, banana and sometimes apples but won’t touch vegetables. I might try making him one of your smoothie recipes to get vegetables into his diet that way. Any tips on encouraging them to eat meat?
    Thanks G for the great post

    March 10, 2021
    Reply

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