5 Healthy, Simple Snacks to Make with Kids

Teach kids that food is fun and encourage creativity with one of these five healthy, simple snacks to make with kids.

Kids love spending time in the kitchen. Including them in the meal prep process yields more than just a fun, and often messy time. It teaches kids about food, and how to put together their own healthy snacks. They learn how to follow directions, how to properly measure ingredients and they learn how to use different  utensils.

When children finish making a healthy snack, it gives them a sense of accomplishment and builds their self-esteem.  And, when kids make their own food, they’re more likely to try it.  Preparing snacks also gives parents the opportunity to talk about nutrition and help children understand and learn why eating healthy food is the smart choice. The key, is to make it fun.

The next time your child comes home from school, have the ingredients ready, and make one of these five easy and healthy snacks.

Party in a Pod

This is a very popular snack for kids.  It teaches them how to clean and cut celery, as well as some basic knife skills. Allow kids to choose what they want to spread inside the celery, and what toppings to add.

Set out celery, nut butter or hummus, small dried fruits such as cranberries or raisins, or small pieces of real fruit, like pears, apples or banana. Crushed nuts are another potential topping.

Have the kids clean and slice the celery, then spread it with nut butter or hummus. Let them choose their own toppings to put on top.

Funny Face Rice Cake Snacks

Circular rice cakes make the perfect base for funny faces. They learn to spread food with a knife and use their creativity to make funny faces. It’s also a perfect opportunity to get kids trying new fruits.

To make this snack, you’ll need either regular or mini sized round rice cakes, nut butter and a variety of dried and fresh fruits, and nuts.

Fun Fruit & Nut Butter Sandwich Snacks

This healthy and simple snack is a fun twist to the traditional peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It teaches kids to use cookie cutters, and encourages them to try new flavors and spreads.

When making these, use varieties of bread that kids might not have tried – like rye or whole wheat varieties. You can also use different types of nut butter and sweeteners. Encourage kids to try new flavors of jelly, or use honey. Add fruit, like banana or apples slices to boost the nutrition.

Greek Yogurt Dip With PB Banana Sandwiches

Greek yogurt is a great snack alone, but it also makes a perfect fruit dip. Have kids portion their own Greek yogurt into a bowl, so that they learn portion size. Then, have them cut a banana and spread peanut butter between two slices. They can eat the foods separately, or dip the peanut butter and banana sandwiches into the yogurt before eating.

To make this snack, you’ll need a few flavors of Greek yogurt, a banana and peanut butter.

Vegetable Muffin Monsters

This healthy simple snack teaches kids that there’s more than one way to make pizza, and shows them how to use a toaster oven to make a warm meal. It’s a great way to get kids trying new vegetables, and teaches them how to slice, dice and cut different shapes.

You’ll need English muffins, pizza sauce, shredded cheese and a variety of different vegetables to decorate.

Have kids spread sauce on the English muffin halves, sprinkle with their favorite cheese then use the vegetables to create different faces. Help kids transfer their creation to the oven or a toaster oven to bake. Encourage kids to talk about their creation, and give a name to their vegetable muffin monster.

Looking for more ideas? Check out this recipe for Greek yogurt cherry ring pops.