Healthy Snacks Kids Can Make

Get kids to enjoy more fruits and vegetables at snack time by encouraging them to play with their food while creating these healthy snacks!

This post was created in partnership with Sprouts Farmers Market. Thank you for supporting brands that make The Nutrition Adventure possible! 

Many kids are headed back to school this week or within the next couple of weeks, so it’s time to get back into a routine for snacks and meals. Keeping a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables on hand will make it easier to prepare healthy snacks any time, and also easier for adding into lunch boxes last minute.

These are all “no-recipe” recipes because you can really make them however you’d like! All you need are a few simple ingredients and a little creativity. Letting kids get involved with selecting produce at the grocery store and having them help make fun snacks like these will encourage them to eat more fruits and veggies.

Whenever I buy fruits and vegetables to have as snacks, I try to cut them in advance so it’s one less thing to do when hunger strikes. Cut cucumbers into slices or sticks so they’re ready for dipping, wash and cut celery into sticks, and chop fruits like pineapple and watermelon into chunks once you bring them home. With berries, you’ll want to wait and wash and slice until you’re ready to eat them, otherwise, they’ll get mushy.

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Banana Sushi

Ingredients you’ll need: 

• 2 large ripe bananas (bananas should be mostly yellow with minimal brown spots)
• 2-3 tablespoons Sprouts brand cashew butter or other nut butter
• 4-5 strawberries, stem removed and sliced thin
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped pistachios
• 1 tablespoon unsalted sunflower seed kernels
• 1 teaspoon chia seeds
• Optional: flavored Greek yogurt for dipping

To make the banana sushi, peel the bananas and place them on a cutting board or plate. Spread the nut butter evenly across the top of both bananas. Place strawberry slices on top of peanut butter, slightly overlapping them. Sprinkle the pistachios, sunflower seed kernels, and chia seeds over each banana. Using a sharp knife, cut the bananas into 1-inch thick slices. Serve with flavored Greek yogurt as a ‘dipping sauce’ if desired.

Garden Bugs & Snails

Ingredients you’ll need: 

• 2 stalks of celery, cut into 4-5 inch pieces
• 2 cucumbers (1 for cucumber sticks, 1 for slicing)
• ¼ cup soft, spreadable cheese such as Boursin cheese
• ½ cup Sprouts brand cashew butter or other nut butter
• ¼ cup pretzel sticks
• 1 Tbsp. dried currants
• ¼ tsp. chia seeds
• Variety of fruits & vegetables: grape tomatoes, bell peppers, shredded carrots, spinach leaves, blueberries, raspberries, apple slices

Bugs & Snails: To prepare the cucumber sticks, remove the ends from one cucumber and then cut in half widthwise, then cut each half lengthwise. Use a spoon to remove seeds from cucumber forming a well. Cut the four cucumber halves lengthwise again to make quarters. To make the cucumber pieces lie flat, use a paring knife to remove part of the skin.  Fill the cucumbers with Boursin cheese. Fill the celery sticks with nut butter. Decorate the celery and cucumber sticks as desired with different fruits and vegetables to make them resemble bugs or snails. The pretzel sticks work as antennas, grape tomatoes for heads, and chia seeds as eyes on the grape tomatoes. Dried currants also work for the eyes.

Dragonflies: Use apple slices or sliced strawberries to create dragonfly “wings” and blueberries and raspberries to resemble the body.

Ladybugs: Cut grape tomatoes in half and place on a spinach leaf. Add chia seeds to tomatoes to create “ladybugs”.

Crunchy Yogurt & Fruit Pizzas

Ingredients you’ll need:

• 4 Sprouts brand Original Brown Rice Cakes
• ½ cup flavored Greek yogurt
• Variety of fruit: sliced bananas, raspberries, blueberries, sliced strawberries, apple slices

To make, place rice cakes on a large plate or cutting board. Evenly distribute the yogurt among the rice cakes and use a butter knife to spread into an even layer. Top with fruits as desired, making fun faces or shapes!

What are some of your kids’ favorite after-school snacks? Earn bonus points with the kiddos by trying one of these dietitian-approved snack recipes!

For more easy, healthy snack ideas the whole family can enjoy, check out this post for some of my favorite recipes to make ahead.