I’m guilty of getting in ruts and serving my kids the same thing on repeat. It’s easy to do, but limits their exposure to new foods and also limits variety which impacts the diversity of nutrients they are getting in their diet (same as us).
I like to think of snacks as a mini meal. I try to offer a balance of nutrients including protein and fiber to actually fill them up. If you’re just throwing a bag of gold fish crackers at them odds are they will complaining about still being hungry 5 minutes later. We’ve all been there and truly nothing more annoying than kids asking for snacks 24/7 and complaining about being hungry IMO.
Whether you’re packing snacks to go with a school lunch or getting asked every 5 seconds for a snack at home here are some easy ideas to help you mix things up.
Simple Mills Crackers + Cheese + Blueberries
Apple + Trail Mix
Kid’s KIND Bar + Strawberries
Kid’s yogurt cup + granola (Quinn likes this chocolate one)
Yogurt Tube (I freeze these) + graham crackers
Apple sauce squeeze pouch + cashews
1/2 PB&J + Banana
Ritz crackers + string cheese + apple sauce
Kid’s Z protein bar + clementines
Mini bagel + cream cheese + chocolate milk
Smoothie drink + Kid’s Perfect Bar
Peanut butter pretzels + yogurt squeeze pouch
Cheese crisps + fruit leather
Rice cake + peanut butter spread + sliced strawberries
Granola minis + milk/yogurt
Chickpea puffs + freeze dried fruit/dried mango
Chia seeds squeeze pack + Made Good bar
I hope this list gives you a few new ideas to incorporate into the mix. Many of these also make good road trip or travel snacks if you’re headed somewhere for spring break.
xx, A