Let’s get snackin’
If you are a parent, caregiver, or childcare worker, you know that snacks reign supreme for kiddos. Snacks help keep your child full until the next meal. This is why scheduled snacks are important versus grazing all day. A snack schedule for a school aged child can look like a morning snack, afternoon snack, and sometimes a bedtime snack. Some snacks are offered before lunch but some schools have a very early lunch, so snack time is offered somewhere after lunch and before pick up. Some schools do not offer snack time during the day, so there is even a larger gap between meals. Let’s take a look at how to build a balanced snack for children. Please note that all suggestions in this article are for school aged children, if your child is under four please modify for choking.
Keep in mind: Protein, Carbs, Fat, Fiber. These are the four things that are essential to keeping your kiddo feeling satisfied in between meals. Let’s look at how we can apply these to snack time.
Some ideas for Protein, Carbs, Fat, & Fiber:
Protein:
- Cheese chips (whisps, moon cheese)
- Nut/peanut butter (if allowed, individual packs)
- Beans/lentils/peas
- Lentil/pea/bean chips
- Greek yogurt/dip
- Hummus
Carbs:
- Fruit (banana, orange, pear, apple)
- Crackers/rice cakes
- Beans
- Freeze dried fruit
Fat:
- Nuts/nut butter
- Dairy (shelf stable)
- Chia/flax/hemp seeds
Fiber:
- Fruit
- Beans/lentils/peas
- Whole grains (popcorn, rice cakes)
- Chia/flax/hemp seeds
Simple ideas for school snacks
Snacks offer a little more challenge due to refrigeration issues as discussed in the lunchtime article here. There are a few options; you can provide your child with a shelf stable snack (see below for suggestions) or you can purchase an insulated snack bag like PackIt. The suggestions below include shelf stable snacks only. Please keep in mind that it is not recommended to provide perishable items without proper storage. If you have an insulated lunch box, you can add some refrigerated items but the list below is for anyone that needs snack ideas that don’t require refrigeration.
All of the links provided throughout this article are NOT affiliate links, they are strictly from my own opinion.
Shelf Stable Simple Snacks
Harvest Snap Crisps (carbs & protein & fiber)
Seaweed snacks (fat)
Applesauce (carbs)
Made Good granola bars or balls/ RX bar kids, ABC bars (protein & carbs & fiber)
Freeze dried fruit (carbs)
Annies bunnies (carbs & protein)
Whisps, moon cheese (fat & protein)
Crunchy edamame/chickpeas (protein & fiber & fat & carbs)
Enjoy Life SunSeed crunch bars (protein & carbs & fat)
Kodiak Protein bear bites (protein & fiber & fat & carbs)
Popcorn (carbs & fat & protein & fiber)
The following snacks are extremely common among children. Since they are mostly carbs with minimal fiber and protein, these snacks may result in the child feeling hungry a lot sooner. To make these snacks more satiating, just pair them with a protein and fiber which would help balance it out.
Pirates Booty (carbs)
Veggie Straws (carbs)
Goldfish (carbs & protein & fat)
Pretzels (carbs)
AFTER SCHOOL SNACKS
Kids get HANGRY after school. Prepare a nice filling snack available when your kiddo gets home. These snacks don’t have to be complicated. See below for some ideas.
Pro Tip: Having cut up veggies and washed/prepped fruit on standby make prepping snacks so much easier.
After School Ideas
Dips (hummus, greek yogurt mixed with seasoning, salsa, bean dip) [protein & carbs] served with veggies (fiber), pretzels (carbs), tortilla chips (carbs)
Charcuterie style snack: crackers (carbs) with cheese, turkey or ham (protein & fat), veggies (carrots, peppers, celery) and fruit (grapes, clementine, apples, pears) [fiber & carbs]
Granola bar (carbs) with string cheese (fiber & fat) and fruit (carbs & fiber)
Sliced up apple (fiber & carbs) with fruit dip (Greek yogurt, peanut butter, cinnamon- [protein & fat & carbs])
Chia pudding (fiber & protein & fat & carbs)
Keep in mind…
If your child is not eating a filling breakfast, they are going to be HANGRY by snack time. Time is not on our kids’ side when it comes to meals and snacks in school. It is important to check with the school and teacher to see if there are any allergy restrictions, a lot of schools are peanut and nut free. A lot of protein rich snacks do contain nuts like granola bars, which makes it a little more challenging to find protein rich packaged snacks. It is also important to send kids with stuff you know they enjoy.
Some kids will request what other kids are having for a snack. In this case, offer what is requested in the mix plus add some balance too. Try to send some fruit to add some fiber, usually a banana, apple, or oranges, pretty much any type of fruit that can stay out of the fridge for a bit without getting mushy. The lists above are just some examples to get you started or to help you get out of a snack rut. Happy snacking!
