Healthy Eating: Easy Snacks that Keep Your Kids on Track

By Lindsay Dunckel, Program Coordinator for Parent Support and Education for First 5 Nevada County

Published in the Holiday 2005 Issue of the Family Post

Nutritionists tell us that children need three meals and two snacks a day, so snacking is a natural part of children's eating. Too often, snacks are unplanned and unhealthy: the kids get hungry and we reach into the cupboards for a prepared food that is high in sugars and/or fats. Convenient snack packs are sold by the dozen for us to toss into lunchboxes or keep in the trunk of the car—but they are loaded in calories and low in nutritional value.

Kids need to snack, and we parents need to plan snacks just as we do meals. In being thoughtful about what snacks we offer our children, we contribute to our children's health and protect them from becoming overweight. Fruits and vegetables are handy snacks: keep some fruits in clear sight on the counter or table; keep cut-up carrots, celery, red or green peppers, and cucumber in the refrigerator standing in a dish with a little water so they're easy for you, or your children, to grab. And it's just as easy to have fruits in the car for after-school-before-activities snacks as it is to have a package of cookies or cereal bars. Bake up a batch of the chewy oat and raisin bars (recipe below) and keep those in your car, too.

There's no need for healthy snacks to be any less fun or appealing than those with lower nutritional value. Here are some ideas for tasty, nutritious snacks that are kid-tested and approved! My kids have helped me make all these recipes—children love to help in the kitchen, and it makes them that much more interested in trying the new foods, too.

Peanut Butter Spiders

A simple snack with kid-appeal—even young kids like making these themselves.

2 graham crackers

2 teaspoons peanut butter

8 pretzel sticks

2 raisins

Make a “cracker sandwich” with the peanut butter. Stick the pretzel “legs” in the middle of the sandwich. Stick the raisin “eyes” on top with just a dab of peanut butter.

Fruit ‘n Cheese Skewers

Sometimes a new presentation of an old snack makes it fun again—and young children can work on their math skills in putting this snack together!

1/4 lb. hard cheese, i.e. cheddar

1 banana

1 bunch seedless grapes

6 strawberries

(note: any fruit may be substituted to taste)

Cut cheese into cubes. Cut fruit into chunks. Thread fruit and cheese onto wooden skewers in any pattern. For a fun math-readiness activity, your child can copy or extend a pattern that you make.

Crunchy Carrot Salad

Carrots are popular with kids. Here's another way to serve them up.

1 lb carrots

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup light sour cream

1/2 cup light mayonnaise

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Peel and shred carrots to measure 4 cups. Combine sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice, brown sugar and salt in bowl. Whisk ingredients together. Stir carrots and raisins into bowl. Refrigerate before serving.

PB and J the Healthy Way

Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches are favorites for many kids. Try these tips to give your kids the healthiest possible sandwich:

Use 100% whole wheat bread.

Use 100% natural peanut butter.

Try adding thin slices of apple or banana to a peanut butter sandwich. Use natural, all-fruit jams and jellies without added sugars.

Yogurt on A Stick

Frozen treats have a spot on the healthy snacks list, too.

1 container yogurt- any flavor

Nonstick spray

Popsicle sticks

Lightly spray inside of paper cup with nonstick spray. Fill cup half full with yogurt. Place cup in freezer. After 1 hour, remove cup from freezer and insert Popsicle stick into center of yogurt. Return to freezer. When ready to eat, remove from freezer and peel off paper cup.

Hummus

A middle-eastern staple that's a tasty, nutritious snack kids and grown-ups both enjoy. It's a snap to make and lasts for days in your refrigerator.

2 cans garbanzo beans (chick peas)

1 cup reserved liquid from the beans

4 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 cup tahini (sesame paste, available in natural food stores or the ethnic food aisle)

3 garlic cloves, pressed

1 teaspoon salt

dash of cayenne (optional)

Blend the garbanzo beans, 1/2 cup of the bean liquid, and the lemon juice in a food processor or blender. Then add the tahini, garlic, and seasonings. Add more liquid as necessary for a creamy texture. You can serve hummus with carrots, cucumber, other vegetables, or whole-wheat pita triangles as a dip or you can use it as the basis for a pita sandwich.

Chewy Oat and Raisin Bars

Sugar doesn't have to be totally banned—here's a baked treat that satisfies like cookies but is low in fat and full of fruit and whole-grain oats.

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

8 ounces vanilla yogurt

2 egg whites, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups uncooked rolled oats (oatmeal)

1 cup raisins (or dried cranberries or other diced dried fruit)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl, mixing well. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt, mixing well. Add the flour mixture to the yogurt mixture, mix well, then stir in the oats and fruit.

Spread the dough into an ungreased 13x9 inch baking pan and bake about 30 minutes, until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack, then cut into 24 bars. Store in a sealed container.

Lindsay Dunckel, Ph.D. and Grass Valley mother of two, is the Program Coordinator for Parent Support and Education for First 5 Nevada County.