Healthy Snack Ideas For Kids - Make Healthy Food Fun!

When it comes to healthy snack ideas for kids, presentation is almost as important as the snack itself. So, my focus here is to offer you suggestions on how to get your kids to eat the healthy snacks you want them to eat. All of the snacks on my Healthy Snack Ideas page are perfect for kids - it's just a matter of presenting them.

Unhealthy Snacks Are
Heavily Advertised

Every day, children are bombarded with advertising trying to get them to ask for and eat all kinds of unhealthy fast foods and snacks. And, oh boy, are kids influenced by these advertising gimmicks! Mass-produced, unhealthy foods are created in association with cartoon characters and presented in fun, colorful packages. Snacks are promoted as being fun to eat and toys are often included in the packaging. What kid can resist that?

This is what parents and caregivers must now compete against when coming up with healthy snack ideas for kids. Children's tastes are not yet developed, so getting children to eat something just because it tastes good and is good for them is not enough. It needs to be fun to look at and fun to eat!

Yes, The Reality is That Kids Want
to Eat Snacks That Are Fun.

When kids go to school and daycare and see their classmates eating fun-looking snacks packaged in colorful wrappers decorated with pictures of cartoon characters and toys, they will not be excited about eating their own healthy snacks wrapped in plain old wax paper. And let's face it - kids really are not capable of understanding the harmful effects of junk food! So, reasoning with them probably won't work!

In coming up with healthy snack ideas for kids, you have to remember that you are competing against these mega food manufacturers and their teams of advertising psychologists who have spent millions of dollars figuring out how to make kids want their products. Children don't know any better - it's up to adults to make the right decisions for their children.

So, What's My Best Advice When It
Comes to Healthy Snack Ideas for Kids?

Start them young. The older they get, the more difficult it is to develop healthy eating habits for children. Younger children are less influenced by their peers and all that advertising.
Teach your kids that homemade foods are special.
Kids love making things! Set aside some time each week to prepare snacks together. Get them involved. There's pride in ownership.
Set a good example. Kids are influenced by adults - if they see the adults they look up to eating junk, they'll want to eat junk too. You can't expect your kids to want to eat healthy if you don't.

Presentation, Presentation, Presentation -
Make The Packaging Fun.

Kids love opening up little containers and unwrapping little packages. Wrap healthy snacks in colorful food-safe tissue paper and tie with ribbons. Your kids will feel like they're opening presents! Or, nestle those healthy snacks in decorated goody bags or little containers. Go to a party store and find colorful little boxes - like Chinese take-out containers. Decorate with fun stickers. Be creative!

Send your kids to school or daycare with absolutely wonderful re-usable snack bags by Itzy Ritzy. Made from washable fabrics decorated with animals, cars and other designs kids love, you can give your kids a treat and help the planet at the same time!

"Your Kids Will Love...
eating healthy snacks from these Itzy Ritzy Reusable Snack Bags. How fun are these? So much better than those not-so-healthy and definitely not eco-friendly plastic baggies I used when I was a kid. Made from FDA-approved, BPA-free, machine-washable fabric, these colorful bags carry sliced fruit, sandwiches, and sticky foods as well as dry snacks. The zippered tops keep snacks in place until ready to eat, and are ideal for little hands.

Make Snacks That Are Easy To Eat,
Fun To Eat, And As Healthy As Possible.

In the world of kids, finger foods rule! One of the best purchases you can make is a set of small cookie-cutters in fun shapes. Make finger sandwiches - how about whole grain bread, natural peanut or almond butter and no-sugar-added jam? Spread the nut butter and jam on the bread, make a sandwich, then cut out shapes with a small cookie cutter. What kid could resist that?

"Your Kids Will Have Fun With...
the Wilton 101-Piece Cookie Cutter Set. You and your kids will have a ball creating snacks in all sorts of shapes. This complete set of cutters has it covered - from holiday shapes, to letters and numbers, as well as animals, dinosaurs, sports....you name it. Your kids will not get bored!

Use those same cookie cutters on sliced fruit. Or, use a melon baller. Kids like shapes! Try using a julienne vegetable peeler on carrots or beets to make "veggie sticks".
Use nuts, seeds and dried fruit to decorate whole-grain crackers and flat breads. Make faces and other whimsical designs - use nut butter as the glue.
All of the snacks on my Healthy Snack Ideas page are perfect for kids - give them a try!

Children and healthy eating - not as hard as you think. I hope my healthy snack ideas for kids have inspired you. And please check back often - I will add more ideas as I find them.

RN, Certified Wellness Coach