Healthy Snacks for Kids: Easy Guide for Parents

Let’s face it, junk food is a kids’ favorite. And, why shouldn’t it be? It’s loaded with flavors, it’s convenient and simply fun to eat for those little taste buds. Needless to say, fast foods do not fall under our today’s list of healthy snacks for kids as they contain a lot of empty calories, high cholesterol, and sugars, besides having zero nutritional value. No matter how conveniently available, fast foods aren’t something you would be likely to serve your kids daily. But the problem is – kids tend to refuse to eat healthy food, as it’s simply not as delicious as a burger would be. Hence, in this blog post, we’ll share a list of foods that kids would love to munch on and help them cultivate healthy eating habits.

1. Yogurt as a snack or a dip

Yogurt isn’t a food item kids throw a lot of tantrums about. Fruit-based yogurts and frozen yogurts are generally loved by most kids. However, the sugar content is something to watch out for. Most yogurt snacks are flavored, and loaded with a ton of sugars. Try swapping it with plain yogurt and add honey or fresh fruits into it for flavor. You can also add some spices and mixed herbs and use them as a dip for making their vegetables more interesting to eat.

2. Whole-grain waffles and pancakes

Classic waffles and pancakes recipes usually involve using refined flour and a lot of refined sugar. One of the healthy snacks for kids would be switching your flour to whole-wheat or any other whole-grin of your choice. Moreover, if your kids love bananas, some mashed bananas could be used as a replacement for refined sugar. If a banana isn’t your go-to choice, you can always use some honey and maple syrup, too. Top it with some fresh-cut fruit, and drizzle with some homemade whipped cream or honey/maple syrup.

3. Popcorn instead of potato chips

Do those deep-fried chips, loaded with a ton of salts and vinegar worry you, but your kid doesn’t settle for any other snack? Well, popcorn comes to your rescue! Popcorn is an excellent whole grain carrying a lot of nutritional value. Air-pop them up, and drizzle some butter and mixed herbs over it, and you’ve got a wonderful replacement snack for your kids that they’d enjoy! Who said popcorn is just reserved for movie nights?

4. Trail-mix, but with nuts!

Healthy snacks for kids definitely doesn’t include the classic trail-mixes usually consist of a lot of candies that have a concerning amount of sugar content. Candy trail-mix isn’t something you can give to your kids as a regular snack. Hence, replace that with a mixture of nuts, cereal, dry fruits, and seeds of your choice. This alternative is just as yummy, but with a lot of healthy fats and antioxidants. You can customize it to your liking and avoid mixing any such ingredients that your kids are allergic to, as well.

5. Fruits in place of any dessert at all!

Kids never say no to anything sweet. Hence, if you’re in a dilemma about how to satiate your kids’ sweet tooth, a good-ol’ fruit bowl is the answer to your riddle. Fruits are loved by all kids alike. You can just cut-up some fruits and mix them to make a fruit salad. Besides, you can swap fruit sorbet for popsicles, and frozen fruit-and-greek-yogurt bars for ice cream. At times, when your kids crave milkshakes/smoothies/juices, you can replace refined sugar with lots of fruits and make it your healthy version of smoothies that your kids are going to love!

Final thoughts

So there you go! We hope this list of healthy snacks for kids gives you several ideas, whether it is to help inculcate healthier eating habits in your kids or to reduce your carbon footprint on the planet. You’ve got this both ways!