Modern Homemakers
Easy and Healthy Snack Ideas for Little Kids To Enjoy
These healthy snack ideas not only keep your little kids nourished but happy, too!
It’s tempting to just give kids some chips for snacks and call it a day. Less prep, less thinking, and more time for other things — but, some schools have been clamping down on junk food as snacks to try and promote more healthy living. Unfortunately, most healthy snacks for little kids can be a bit tedious to prepare so here are ten easy healthy snack ideas for reference so you can prepare them for little kids.
1. Boiled Eggs
When we boil eggs, it’s easier for the body to absorb the protein found in the egg white. Although it’ll take some time for us to peel, it’ll be easy once we submerge it in cold water and crack off the shell. Hard-boiled eggs are easy for little kids to chew and can even be smashed.
2. Yogurt
Yogurt is easy to buy from the supermarket and all the probiotics inside are what make it a healthy snack. They also come in different flavors, giving them a bright color that appeals to little kids. Some of them have sugar and others don’t. Some might prefer Greek yogurt so their kids don’t get hyperactive and crash within the day because of the sugar.
3. Bananas
Bananas may have a lot of sugar but they’re loaded with Potassium and Vitamin B, giving kids the energy to last throughout the day. It’s still considered a “healthy” snack because the sugar isn’t processed; it’s a naturally occurring fruit sugar known as Fructose. And since little kids don’t have the tendency to chew, bananas are easy enough to swallow. Bananas also help dislodge fish bones in the throat if they accidentally swallow one.
4. Chilled fruit slices like Dragon Fruit or Golden Kiwi
Frozen fruit slices serve as a healthy snack alternative to the usual ice cream. When choosing a fruit to persuade your kids to eat, get the ones that are brightly colored. To them, anything green or dark colored is disgusting and it’ll just be a big fight when trying to make them eat it. Dragon Fruit and Golden Kiwi usually taste best when chilled.
5. Grapes
Grapes are a healthy snack that meets all the kids’ requirements: it has bright colors (i.e. red), they’re small so they can eat them with their hands, and when they chew on them, they’re like little bubbles of sweetness that pop in the mouth. While it does have a lot of fruit sugar, it has other nutrients like potassium and antioxidants. It’s a lot better than the typical processed sugar.
6. Milk
We know it’s more of a drink but milk can be quite filling as a healthy snack, too. It’s loaded with calcium which kids need to make sure they build their muscles and don’t break their bones. Some parents can even make milk popsicles for kids to lick. With a bit of vanilla extract, it’ll taste almost like vanilla ice cream.
For those who are lactose-intolerant, you can try the nut-milks like almond milk or soy milk to help kids build up their calcium and protein requirements.
7. Peanuts
Although in moderation to be considered a healthy snack, peanuts are filled with monounsaturated fat (the same fat found in olive oil and rapeseed oil), fiber, and a variety of other minerals. So long as they’re not fried in oil and tossed in salt, peanuts can be quite healthy. Some supermarkets sell them raw so parents can roast them in a pan to keep the snack healthy.
8. Popcorn
Without artificial cheese powder, popcorn can be a healthy snack and is even preferred for diabetics. Popcorn has low amounts of sugar but is a complex carbohydrate which means, it’ll take a while for the kids to feel hungry again after eating it. Just be careful though, because popcorn can be a choking hazard for smaller children.
9. Oranges
Oranges, especially the Philippines’ Satsuma variant which is readily available in markets and supermarkets, are small, healthy, and easy to eat. They’re the sweetest among their cousins and are seedless, so no need to worry about kids swallowing or potentially choking on them.
10. Tofu
Toasted tofu with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste may require a bit of prep but it’s a healthy snack if kids need more protein. Although some studies have said that tofu can affect the body’s absorption of other nutrients, it’s still a healthier alternative to potato chips. As a plant-based protein, it’s also extremely flexible—making it possible to use multiple recipes before the kids get tired of it.
Healthy snack ideas don’t always have to be difficult.
It’s a painstaking process to make healthy snacks since it takes a lot of time to prepare and wash with most of them being vegetables. But the small effort to serve healthy snacks is one little step to staying away from the hospital. We know what they say, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” In this case, “a healthy snack a day keeps the doctor away.”
More cooking tips if you’re trying to up your culinary game:
One-Pot Summer Recipes to Beat the Heat
8 Easy Christmas Leftovers Recipes Beyond Lechong Paksiw
5 Places to Buy Healthy Food and Snacks for Your Kids
