5 healthy snack ideas for kids
Kids love snacking and are generally scoffed at when it comes to healthy snacking. After they’ve filled their stomachs with greasy and salty chips or chocolate, you’ll be lucky if they eat a nutritious meal. Eating unhealthy snacking is a habit that can be broken, but kids really need help with it. They need to be presented with healthy snacks for children as an alternative to chewing foods that have no nutritional value or are harmful to their health.
Some children are mature enough to be educated about healthy eating and will adapt quickly if they really want to take charge of their health. Most children, however, do not care about health, especially when it comes to snacks. Here are some ideas for introducing nutritional snacks to your kids:
Have fresh fruit on hand and easily accessible.
Most children cannot resist a plate full of fresh fruit. Provide a variety of fruits, some of which they have never tasted. A variety of fruits is sure to appeal to even the pickiest of diners. Take the children shopping for a fruit that they find interesting. For special treats, you can help children make chocolate-dipped fruit or banana popsicles.
Kids love smoothies.
Smoothies are a great alternative to smoothies and are actually healthy snacks that kids love. You can use yogurt, fresh fruit, and low-fat milk and make a smoothie in the blender in seconds. Many kids will enjoy making their own smoothies, so it might be a good idea to get them involved.
Help your children plant a garden full of vegetables.
Believe it or not, children are more likely to eat vegetables if they grow them themselves. Gardening is a great adventure and a great way to spend quality time with your children. At harvest time, prepare a snack tray with vegetables and low-fat sauce. You could even try making celery with peanut butter for a snack.
Replace the fries with a healthy snack mix.
Grain-based and granola-based cereals and whole wheat crackers are much healthier than other snacks children choose. Mixing these cereals with nuts, raisins, or other dried fruits can make a healthy snack for children who can chew.
Squeeze it out.
If your kids refuse to eat fruits and vegetables for snacks, you can always pass them off as juice to make sure your kids get the nutrition they desperately need. You can run fresh fruits and vegetables through a juicer and get a homemade juice that’s sure to turn heads. You can even try making a slush out of the juice by running it through a blender filled with ice. You can also make popsicles with fresh fruit and vegetable juice.
Tempting a child with healthy snacks can be challenging if you are familiar with junk food. It’s best if you start early and develop good eating habits when they’re young, but it’s never too late to teach kids to eat healthy.