Keeping your children powered up with healthy snacks is an important part of everyday life, but with school and activities starting up in full speed, snacks become even more essential.
As a parent, you want your kids to eat healthy snacks – not ones that are loaded with sugar and lead to energy “crashes.” Snacks made with fruits and vegetables boost energy naturally and include vitamins and nutrients not found in prezels and potato chips. But many kids are picky, and getting them to eat their vegetables can be next to impossible.
These six snacks are packed with fruits and vegetables, taste great and are easy to throw together during a busy day.
1. CHEWY RASPBERRY APPLE GRANOLA BARS
These homemade granola bars contain seven healthy ingredients and are cheaper than store-bought brands. They include healthier old-fashioned oats and frozen unsweetened raspberries, which can be used year-round. You’ll want to check your brands to ensure the berries don’t contain added sweetener.
The ingredient list also includes melted coconut oil, unsweetened applesauce, milk, honey, and cinnamon.
2. VEGGIE LADYBUGS
What better way to encourage your kids to eat veggies than to dress them up like ladybugs? These treats have a cracker base, cream cheese bedding, tomato wings, olive heads and chive antennas. They’re easy to put together and sure to please. For especially picky kids, swap out the olives for purple grapes.
3. REAL FRUIT ROLLS
Store-bought fruit rolls may taste delicious, but they’re loaded with sugar. Instead of serving your kids Fruit Roll Ups, you can make your own fruit rolls that will be just as sweet and use fresh berries. You can store them for up to a month at room temperature – if your children don’t eat them all first.
4. ANTS ON A LOG
This snack is traditionally made with celery, peanut butter and raisins, but cream cheese may be substituted for children with nut allergies. If you use cream cheese, just be sure to use a brand that is organic and low in sugar. You can also use seed or nuts instead of raisins to provide a more protein-packed snack.
5. WATERMELON PIZZA
Kids love pizza, so why not serve them a pizza snack that’s actually healthy? Watermelon Pizza is a fun treat that will satisfy your child’s sweet tooth. It’s made with seedless watermelon, blueberries, blackberries and coconut flakes. Because it contains a lot of fruit, it is higher on the sugar count. For this reason, you won’t want to serve watermelon pizza every day. It does make an excellent treat or occassional snack, however.
6. BERRY BANANA SUSHI
What’s not to like? Banana, peanut butter, coconut flakes and blackberries combined to make this snack tasty and healthy. The outer edges of each banana ring are coated with peanut butter while a blackberry is placed on top of each ring. You can even use a chocolate sauce for dipping.
Your kids can stay fit and have a blast with the youth activities at ATC. Check out our full selection of kid-friendly classes and activities below.
