You just finished putting the lunch leftovers away, wiping the table from all the soup splashes, sweeping up the toast crumbs, and all you want to do is flop onto the couch for a bit of mindless scrolling.
But your toddler has other plans.
“Mama, can I have a snack?”
“Say what? Didn’t I just feed you?” … well, at least she asked politely.
Since you’re tired and unmotivated, it’s tempting to pull out the goldfish and call it a day.
And that’s what we call the “snack trap!” Been there? Yup, us too.
If snacks are habitually store-bought or in crinkly packages, kids are more drawn to them over regular meal foods. I mean, can we blame them? The packaging is so oooohhh, ahhhhh, illusive and seductive. The truth is, kids will often hold out and not eat at mealtimes if they know that “snack foods” are coming soon. Essentially, it goes like this “hmm, I don’t have to try ABC food because I know mama/papa will give me XYZ” food.
The solution? Think of snacks more as mini meals instead of a type of food.
Below we’ve curated more than 80 snack ideas so that you’re never left wondering what to offer for snacks!
To make it more practical, we suggest setting aside a bit of time each week to snack prep a few of these ideas so that you’re not scrambling at the last minute.
Got an idea? Add it in the comments!
Toddler Snack Plan
Ever feel at a loss for serving whole food snacks to your kids? Allow us to ease your mental load with our snack plan!
We’ve curated four weeks of easy snack ideas to nourish your child with a variety of foods.
You’ll get:
- 4 weeks of 2 pre-planned snacks each day (can be stretched out to an 8 week plan if your family only eats 1 snack each day)
- Grocery lists for each week
- Recipes for all snacks (don’t worry – not all snacks require “making something!”)
- A planned prep day with assigned tasks so you’re 100% ready to take on the week
Kids Love to Dip!
- Black bean dip with red peppers and pita bread
- Brownie batter hummus with strawberries
- Creamy edamame dip with veggies and crackers
- Cucumber sticks with cottage cheese dip
- Fruit salsa with cinnamon chips
- Graham Crackers with flavored cream cheese
- Guacamole and pita chips
- Homemade fries with a salsa yogurt dip (stir together salsa and yogurt)
- Homemade sweet potato fries with sweet curry hummus
- Hummus with carrots with optional crackers
- Peanut/nut/seed butter dip with apples or pears (steam fruit to soften for younger children)
- Pumpkin dip with graham crackers
- Steamed broccoli and yogurt ranch (stir together yogurt and ranch)
- Whipped coconut cream with pineapple
Kids Love to Sip!
- Cooled puréed soup (if your child hasn’t yet mastered thin liquids with a spoon, serve them soup in a cup!)
- Drinkable yogurt – get a free e-book with five DIY yogurt drink recipes
- Healthier homemade orange julius
- Healthier Hot Chocolate
- Licuado (Jess loved this when she spent time in Guatemala, it’s fruit blended with milk or water)
- Smoothies
Kids Love to Pick it Up!
- Ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and raisins) -only suitable for older kiddos
- Aussie Bites
- Banana tahini oat bars
- Cheese, crackers, cherry tomatoes, and salami or pepperoni sticks
- Chocolate chip cookie dough bites
- Dill pickle “chips”
- Egg omelette with sautéed onions
- Energising Peanut Butter Hemp Cookies (great with whole wheat flour and some mini chocolate chips!)
- Frozen yogurt bark with fruit
- Granola bars and cantaloupe
- Homemade gelatin snacks, kinda like gummies!
- Muffins and blueberries
- Lentil garlic cheese toast
- Oatmeal balls
- Peanut/nut/seed butter on toast
- Peanut Butter Blossoms with a glass of milk and fruit
- Popcorn (*note popcorn is considered a choking hazard until age 4)
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Pumpkin Energy Bites
- Steamed cauliflower and shredded cheese
- Teething Biscuits
- Tofu fingers and mushrooms
- Trail mix cookies
- Tuna melt
- Watermelon “fries” with yogurt
Remember, if you’re on the go and the food you brought is perishable, pack the snack in an insulated lunch bag with an ice pack.
Kids Love Food on Sticks!
- Blueberry Cheesecake Popsicle
- Chocobananos (frozen chocolate covered bananas)
- Fruit kebabs
- Tortellini, bocconcini and cherry tomato skewers
Kids Love to Slurp!
- Cottage cheese and honeydew melon
- Instant Pot Applesauce
- Jello
- Kheer, Indian Rice Pudding
- Pudding
- Rice pudding
- Soup in a mug
- Strawberry nice cream
- Yogurt with hemp hearts (to cut down on added sugars mix plain yogurt with chia berry sauce)
Kids Love to Play!
These ‘snacktivities’ double up as both a snack and a play activity.
Did you know that playing with food actually counts as food exposure? Yeah, even if your kiddo didn’t eat the food. That’s why we’re huge believers in the science of sensory and food play. So much so, we created a booklet that includes 17+ Hands on Food Play Ideas which is our go to resource for picky eaters too. There’s even a recipe for edible paint and a neat idea for veggie scraps!
You can find it in our e-course, Feeding Toddlers Confidently along with 10 other bonuses!
We hope you feel better armed for when the snack attack creeps up on you knowing you have a plethora of options that are not only easy and tasty but also offer up your kiddo nutrition to fuel all the wonder and magic in their day!
Did we miss something?
If you’ve got a great snack idea that your kiddo loves, please let us know and we’ll add it to the list!
