Healthy Snack for Kids

It's important for kids to eat healthy snacks. Giving your kids junk food, like candy bars and gummy bears, will only teach them bad eating happens. It will also rot their teeth and make them pudgy. When I was a kid, my parents let me eat as much junk food as I wanted. Not surprisingly, I was a fat a kid and other kids teased me for it. Thankfully, I turned my eating habits around in my late teens and I've been eating healthy ever since. Still, I wish my parents had fed me healthy foods when I was a kid.

I think a lot of kids don't eat healthy because their parents don't know how to eat healthy. For some reason, a lot of people don't know the difference between healthy foods and unhealthy food. This confusion leads them to think that eating healthy is difficult when it's actually quite simple. If you're trying to figure out what to give your kids for a snack, here are some of my favorite healthy snacks that I'm sure your kids will love, too.

Peanut Butter and Bananas on Toast

This was one of my favorite snacks when I was a kid, except my mom used Peter Pan peanut butter and white bread. The only healthy part was the banana. These days, it's still one of my favorite foods, but now I use all-natural peanut butter (just ground peanuts and salt) and whole grain bread. I like to use a 9-grain or whole oat bread because it's healthier than plain whole wheat and it tastes better. It's really easy to make: just pop a slice of bread in the toaster, then slather it with peanut butter and slice a banana over it. Voila!

Oatmeal and Berries

I know, most kids hate oatmeal unless it's completely covered in sugar and syrup. Trust me, your kids will like. For the oatmeal, don't use instant, use rolled oats. It's actually less expensive than buying the instant packages and it's healthier. Then buy some fresh or frozen berries from the store. I usually just get whatever's on sale. Raspberries and blueberries are my favorite. To make it, put about 1/3 cup of oats in a bowl with equal parts water or milk and berries. Then microwave on high for one minute. The berries will get soft and gooey and all the natural sugars will mix into the oatmeal and sweeten it. If it's still not sweet enough for your kids, just drizzle some honey on top.

Trail Mix

Trail mix is really easy to make, it's very healthy and kids love it. I make trail mix by mixing together equal parts of mixed nuts, shelled sunflower seeds and raisins in a big bowl or plastic container. Sometimes I also add granola and dried fruit. If you want to toss a few M&M's or chocolate chips in it for your kids, that's okay; just not too many. It's better for them to eat a few small pieces of chocolate with nuts and raisins than a whole candy bar.

Fruit Chips

Some kids don't like to eat fruit but I find that even those children will eat fruit chips. That's because when the fruit is dehydrated, the sweetness in intensified and it becomes more like candy. You don't need a food dehydrator to make fruit chips. Just cut up some bananas, apples and strawberries into thin slices and place them on a wire rack. Set the rack on top of a pan and stick it in the over. Set the oven to 100º and leave the door slightly cracked open. Check on the fruit once every couple of hours until it is ready.