Healthy snacks aren’t always easy to get your kids to eat, and most moms know that kids come home from school or daycare ravenous. As a single mom, you probably haven’t had time to get dinner ready when you bring your kids through the door. You need healthy snacks to give them, because it may sabotage dinner, but they are genuinely hungry. The key is to find foods that you will not feel bad about them “filling up” on, because that could happen.
Fruit and Veggie Sculptures
Making fruit fun can make it more appealing to those who would rather have a bag of potato chips. Take a Saturday when you are not working to think through some fun ways to present fruits and veggies. You can use peanut butter for a healthy “glue” to keep your creations together. Here are some tips:
· Raisins make great eyes.
· Use a knife to carve out smiles.
· An orange slice can be a nose.
· Don’t forget nuts to add some variety to your creations.
After presenting a few of these healthy snacks and creations, your kids might want in on the fun. Provided they are eating healthy foods, this could be a good time to allow them to “play with their food,” and while the kids are having fun with activities, creating food sculptures, you can have some time to decompress after work or plan for your meal later in the evening.
Trail Mix
Making your own trail mix on the weekend can give you an instant snack and prevent the urge to reach for the chips and crackers out of convenience. Add healthy items to the trail mix, like nuts and dried fruits, then throw in some chocolate or peanut butter chips to give it appeal to your pickiest eaters. Other ideas to put in a trail mix include sunflower seeds, chopped pretzels, and popcorn.
Cheese
Cheeses are healthy snacks options that are packed with calcium. To make it simple and accessible, purchase individually wrapped packages of string cheese. Your kids can get these themselves, and you will have instant portion control to ensure they aren’t making a meal out of what should just be a snack.
Dips
Sometimes adding a dip makes a less exciting food go down with ease. Ranch, cream cheese, peanut butter, and even ketchup all make dips for your kids’ foods that may make them more enjoyable. Serve carrot sticks or celery sticks with dip for fast and healthy snacks. Watch the dips for calorie and trans fat content to keep your kids as healthy as possible.
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I love cooking with my preschoolers. One of my favorite things to make with them is painted toast. Just use some food coloring to dye some milk and then use clean new paint brushes to paint a design on a piece of toast. When done they can eat their masterpiece. The kids love to do it and it is super cheap and very easy.
This is a great idea. When I was little, I had an obsession with asking my mom to dye my food – milk, potatoes, anything that could be easily colored! It made eating fun and interesting for me, since I was such a picky eater. This is actually a great way to get kids to eat their food, because it’s so fun.
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