Healthy Back to School Snacks

Back to school again (in the Southern region of the United States) . My, how time goes by so quickly. This is the season where a lot of our darling children will come home for a long day of school screaming “ Mom!” “What’s for dinner?” or “Mom, I am hungry!” “What do we have to eat!” If you do not have dinner ready now you can give them a healthy snack that will tie them over until dinner time. Pick snacks that taste good, help them to look and feel great.

Make sure that you do not give too much of a snack that your child will not have enough to eat for dinner. But, if your child is doing something active like playing a sport, taking a dance class, biking or running around with your friends, it’s OK to fuel up with a bigger snack.

Your child can eat lunch at noon and dinner’s at 6:00, a snack right after school–say at about 3:00–is just right. They will get some fuel to do homework or to get outside and play.

You can pack a great snack in your kid’s backpack. If your child have after-school activities and can’t get home in time for a snack, you can have them take it with them. Pack sturdy stuff that won’t get squished–try an apple, single-serving boxes of raisins, small bags of nuts or pretzels or a box of juice.

Here is the list below of some healthy snacks. Eat and Enjoy!!

Low-fat yogurt–try freezing those squeezable tubes

Cheese sticks

A fistful of peanuts or trail mix

Frozen fruit bars

Any fresh fruit like grapes, an apple, banana or orange–you pick!

Any dried fruit like raisins or apricots

Any veggie, especially easy-to-eat ones like cherry tomatoes, baby carrots and cut-up

green peppers

Graham crackers (don’t forget the milk!)

Fortune cookies

Fig bars

Cereal bar or granola bar

Low-fat chocolate milk

Orange juice

A toasted bagel half topped with a cheese slice

Pudding

Applesauce

Whole-wheat crackers smeared with peanut butter

Pretzels

Salsa and baked tortilla chips

Hummus (chick pea dip) and pita bread

A cup of soup and a couple of crackers

Bowl of cereal–hot or cold

A nuked potato topped with catsup

Cold cooked chicken

A slice of pizza–hot or cold

A nuked potato topped with catsup

A slice of pizza–hot or cold