Nutritious snack ideas for little children

Parents usually try making every effort to see kids grow healthy and strong. It makes us happy to see them eat a nutritious snack without any fuss. But, children prefer taste over nutrients and we too had such preferences in our childhood, which is natural. Don’t you agree? But, we can’t blindly allow our little children to have their choice of less healthy food too often. So, we need to get creative and make healthy snacks that suit the taste of our kids.

Here are a few kid-friendly snack ideas, that are colorful, packed with nutrients, and taste great too. As kids differ in their food preferences, you can try making these nutritious snacks with ingredients that your child loves, by replacing any ingredient you feel that your child is either allergic to or doesn’t usually like eating, so that your efforts and the food don’t get wasted away.

The importance of nutritious snacks

• Providing nutrient rich tasty snacks helps you add nutrients to your child’s diet especially for picky eaters who do not eat healthy meals.
• Kids tend to overeat at meals if they are deprived of nutritious food in between meals.
• It is important to remember that nutritious snacks do not replace meals and should not be given in larger portions.

Pita bread with hummus

Hummus is a creamy spread made from chickpeas, tahini (paste of ground sesame seeds), lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, and ground cumin.

Nutrients in Hummus: Proteins, carbohydrates, iron, calcium and healthy fats.

Pita bread with hummus makes a nutritious and tasty snack that can be paired with some sliced apples or carrots.

Energy balls

Energy balls made of all nutritious and natural ingredients such as dry fruits, ghee and nuts with no added sugar make a healthy and tasty snack.

Nutrients in dry fruits and nuts: Proteins, dietary fiber, and minerals such as calcium, iron, potassium and magnesium.

For the energy ball recipe with dates, and nuts, watch this video from my channel Rancy’s Insight : Homemade energy balls recipe

Peanut Butter dip with sliced apples, banana, and pears

Peanut butter is nutrient-dense and pairing it with fruit slices makes a healthy snack that tastes great.

Nutrients in fruits: Vitamins, dietary fibers and minerals.

To make the peanut butter creamy and easy to dip, mix it with at least one tablespoon of plain yogurt.

Homemade sandwiches

Using whole grain bread, veggies/chicken/egg and cheese make a delicious and nutritious snack.

Nutrients in sandwich: Dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, protein (egg/chicken/meat/paneer), fats (cheese), and carbohydrates.

You may also use avocado in a sandwich. As sandwiches are usually dry, it is important that you add a drink such as fresh fruit juice.

Rainbow fruit skewers

Based on your child’s taste, you can choose fruits of different colors such as strawberries, grapes, kiwi, pineapple, dragon fruit, and melon.

Slice the bigger fruits and cut them into shapes and sizes of your choice. Use the type of skewers that kids are comfortable with. Fix the fruit slices on skewers in a pile. You can pair them with healthy dips.

Chapati (Indian flatbread) with paneer bhurji (Indian cottage cheese)

Crumbled Indian cottage cheese can be tossed with stir-fried onion, tomato, bell peppers, and spices of your choice.

Nutrients in paneer: Protein, fat, calcium and sodium.

It tastes wonderful and makes a nutrient-loaded snack that can be eaten with Indian flatbread made from whole wheat flour.

Here’s my video that gives different combinations of nutritious snacks for your kids’ snack box : Kids snack box ideas.

It is always good to know different ideas for kid-friendly nutritious snacks as we can’t keep serving them the same snack over and over again. Do share your own ideas of healthy snacks for kids, in the comments section, that can be helpful to parents.