Healthy snacks for kids aged 18months to 4years old

Lisa - posted on 02/04/2009

What great ideas!

A few I have are: slices of avocado, oat crackers (a bit of a UK thing I think), hummus on wholegrain bread with grated carrot and cucumber - in fact hummus with anything from bread, crudites, italian breadsticks.  Fruit of all kinds, homemade sugar-free wholemeal crepes (make lots when making and freeze any leftovers) filled with whatever is around including cream cheese or a little organic honey or slices of banana.  Homemade popcorn (kids love hearing it pop in the pan) or french toast.  My kids love little bowls filled with a mixture of fresh fruit and organic dried fruit.  Also smoothies are great if the child decides what goes in and you can bulk it up with a few porridge oats, yoghurt or just use juice.

Michelle - posted on 02/04/2009

hiya i am a mother of 3 children and raisins are badddddddddddd they stick to the teeth best things are friut loads of veg in stick form like carrots celery cucumber. my kids like rusks with yogurt friut with yoghurt. cherry toms with light mayo low fat cheese sticks there great.

Chelsye - posted on 02/04/2009

Our usual snacks (for my 17 month-old daughter) are:

sliced strawberries with low fat graham crackers

my daughter LOVES hummus of all flavors. she usually dips some whole grain crackers in it

reduced fat nilla wafers with peanut butter

my daughter loves sliced avacados

any kind of fruit

string cheese with cherry tomatoes cut in half

slices of peeled cucumber are another go-to for my daughter

gerber makes great fruit snacks and i wouldn't be able to live without them.

that's all i can think of for right now. I hope this helps!

Beth - posted on 02/04/2009

Quoting Amanda:

A quick and fun treat: FREEZE the GoGurt yogurt tubes and serve them this way - less mess for everyone, and the kids get a kick out of having "ice cream" for a healthy snack.

What a great idea!  I can't stand how messy those are, but my girls love them!

Donielle - posted on 02/04/2009

I love those ideas!! I also give my son corn (loose not on the cob)....it's bite size and has it's own natural sweetness. He loves it. I am a mom who worries about choking hazards with food so I always try any snack first to see how fast it dissolves, how much chewing is involved and is it to hard or sticky. Some labels say that they are appropriate for certain toddlers or babies and I don't think they are. As for meals....try good old spaghetti with a twist. Make your meat sauce with ground turkey (add turkey sausage too if u like) and throw in some squash, spinach, string beans or carrots. Actually get creative and add whatever veggie you want. The kids will never know and they will love it! Also add pureed veggies to your meatballs or meat loaf. It's also equally important to let the kids see you eating healthy snacks and they will follow. Kids can only eat what we give them. Hope I helped!

Amanda - posted on 02/04/2009

I make "fruit plates" for my kids and give them their own little cups of yogurt for dipping. No friut gets left behind.

A quick and fun treat: FREEZE the GoGurt yogurt tubes and serve them this way - less mess for everyone, and the kids get a kick out of having "ice cream" for a healthy snack.

raisins, pretzel sticks, and dried fruit mixed together and served in a favorite cup.

have the kids make their own plates by setting out a few healthy choices in small bowls "buffet style" and letting them choose - works for those times when not everyone wants the same thing or they are picky eaters.

frozen waffles cut into strips after toasting with applesauce for dipping.

anything "boring" but healthy becomes kid friendly when you let them put sprinkles on it - works everytime for my nearly-3-year-old.

Ashley - posted on 02/04/2009

I love to make healthy snacks for my brood, carrot and celery sticks any veggie cut into sticks fruit as well unsweetened apple sauce and raisins are great too!