Healthy Snacks for Kids and Tweens

Getting kids to snack is never hard to do. Finding healthy snacks for kids is the difficult part. If your tween is always looking for something to munch on, consider these snacks for kids of all ages. They're great for after-school snacking, summer snacking, weekend snacking, or anytime snacking. And they're loaded with the nutrients your child's body needs, rather than the preservatives and added ingredients you'll find in most processed, ready-to-eat foods.

• Organic fruit yogurt (avoid sugar-laced yogurt drinks or yogurt sticks that are heavy on added ingredients and dye)
• Whole-wheat crackers served with peanut butter (or almond butter) and fruit spread
• A handful of nuts (peanuts, almonds, cashews or a mix)
• Popcorn (pop your own, you can control butter and salt content and there are no added preservatives or ingredients)
• A veggie plate (broccoli florets, celery sticks, carrot sticks, green pepper sticks, etc) served with ranch dressing
• Fresh fruit (choose from in season fruit such as bananas, apples, oranges, clementines, pears, berries, etc.)
• Celery sticks (cut into bite-sized pieces and fill with peanut butter or cream cheese, dot with raisins or Craisins)
• Apple slices or banana rounds topped with peanut butter or almond butter (or a cocoa hazelnut spread like Nutella)
• Yogurt smoothies (make your own with organic yogurt, milk, orange juice and fresh fruit)
• Home-made trail mix
• Deviled eggs
• Banana Pops
• Cheese cubes and ham or turkey cubes served with a side of ranch dressing
• Home-made fruit freezes
• Whole-grain cereal (Cheerios, Wheat Chex, Shredded Wheat) served with 1/2 cup of skim milk, topped with fruit.
• Graham crackers topped with peanut or almond butter and banana rounds (or raisins)
• Cottage cheese (top with canned, cubed pineapple, strained, or a handful of canned Mandarin orange segments, strained)
• Yogurt topped with a handful of granola and sliced fruit
• Cheese and crackers (kids prefer soft cheeses such as a soft herb cheese or Alouette)
• Toss chopped pecans, raisins or Craisins into cooked instant oatmeal, add a dash of milk or cream.
• Sprinkle shredded cheese over a corn tortilla, microwave for about 15 seconds and top with salsa.
• Make a mini-pizza by toasting an English muffin and topping with pizza sauce, and shredded cheese.
• All natural Tortilla chips served with chunky salsa
• Leftovers can sometimes be the healthiest snack of all, especially if it was a healthy meal, to begin with.
• All natural pita chips served with hummus