Young children can be picky. I know how struggling can be to come up with various toddler shacks, trying to serve food that is delicious but healthy at the same time.
I hope my list of healthy snacks for toddlers will save you time, so when snack time comes, you can quickly prepare and serve food, and don’t worry if your child will eat it. I also included the best toddler snacks when you are going on a trip and cannot serve anything fresh.
Keep reading for more healthy snack ideas for children, and as a parent, you’ll love the simplicity of the ideas!
- #1 Fun and Healthy Loaded Banana Boats
- #2 Fun Toasts for a Fun Colorful Snack
- #3 Toddler-Approved Mini Muffins
- #4 Crackers are Always a Good Idea
- #5 Protein Bites for Growth and Energy
- #6 Chocolate-Dipped Fruits As Healthy Fruit Snacks for Toddlers
- #7 Make your Own Frozen Yogurt with Fruits
- #8 Applesauce for Teething Babies
- #9 Yummy Fruit Popsicles for Summer
- #10 Fruit Smoothie for a Quick Vitamin Boost
- #11 Veggie Snacks for Toddlers with Hummus
- #12 Trail Mix for a Playful Toddler
- #13 Avocado Snack for a Nutritious Knockout
- #14 Fruit and Cheese Kebabs for a Crowd
- #15 Homemade Granola Bars for Snacks on the Go
- #16 No Toddler Resists DIY Goldfish Crackers
- #17 Three Ingredients Waffle? Yes, please!
- #18 Broccoli Cheese Cups for Picky Eaters
- #19 Make Homemade Pizza When You Have Time
- #20 Citrus Salad Makes for a Lovely Juicy Snack
- #21 Cookies for the Whole Family
#1 Fun and Healthy Loaded Banana Boats
Let’s open with one of my favorite healthy fun snacks for toddlers – the Loaded Banana Boat! The prep time is no more than five minutes, and you will need a spoon of peanut butter, a spoon of crushed peanuts for topping, a bar of dark chocolate or chocolate chips, and a half of the banana.
You can find the full recipe on Thrivinghomeblog.com and always customize it with the things you have at home, such as raisins.
#2 Fun Toasts for a Fun Colorful Snack
Toasts are the most versatile easy snacks for toddlers. All you have to do is come up with several toppings you can mix and match when you are short of time. My daughter’s favorite is the combo of ricotta cheese, strawberries and honey.
Applesauce, apples and cinnamon, avocado or boiled eggs are also excellent! If you lack ideas, you can check the Savvymom.ca list of the best toast toppings for inspiration!
#3 Toddler-Approved Mini Muffins
This is one of the best toddler vegetable snacks. Prepare muffins with banana and cinnamon, or switch bananas with oats for a treat made from whole grain. Consider Yummytoddlerfood.com for a simple recipe to make delightful sugar-free mini muffins for toddlers with bananas.
Mini muffins are actually excellent finger foods for babies, quick and easy to make, yet delicious and healthy.
#4 Crackers are Always a Good Idea
Homemade crackers are still the most suited healthy toddler snacks you can prepare a few days before and keep in the container that prolongs freshness. Try the recipe from Acanadianfoodie.com, and the nice thing is, the author suggests the crackers stay fresh for weeks (which is good for trips)!
Serve them with cheese for an old-school treat!
#5 Protein Bites for Growth and Energy
You can’t go wrong with meat in your healthy toddler meals and snacks – in fact, protein bites allow you to whip up plenty of variations, be it meat-based or the meat-free way.
If you plan to use beef as part of the recipe, this recipe from Littlegrazers.com combines beef, apple and quinoa in a creative way to serve these protein balls to your kiddo as an ultimate protein source. If chicken is your preferred choice, try making healthy chicken nugget bites following the recipe from Superhealthykids.com.
Looking for a gluten-free, vegan option? Texanerin.com has a great peanut butter protein ball recipe that is oh-so-yummy!
#6 Chocolate-Dipped Fruits As Healthy Fruit Snacks for Toddlers
If you have issues convincing your child to eat vegetables or fruits, get creative. You can dip fruits, such as banana, or strawberries into melted dark chocolate, get it on the stick and serve as an entertaining and healthy treat for toddlers!
#7 Make your Own Frozen Yogurt with Fruits
Since you are serving this snack to your child, I don’t recommend serving store-bought frozen yogurt because those are rich in sugar content. Instead, use plain Greek yogurt and chopped fruit to make a quick healthy snack for toddlers. Use pears, apricots, raspberries, or any fruit your kid prefers.
Let it cool and serve as healthy dairy snacks in the summertime!
#8 Applesauce for Teething Babies
If you are looking for the best teething foods for babies from six months old, applesauce is soothing, yummy and healthy. Applesauce is rich in antioxidants, but make sure to leave the skin on to get the best nutrient score. Check Simpletoddlerrecipes.com to learn how to make applesauce and find out more about additional ingredients.
#9 Yummy Fruit Popsicles for Summer
Fruit popsicles are safe for toddlers older than nine months, and if you make them yourself, you get the best benefits. Homemade popsicles are free of refined sugar, gluten, nuts and dairy, which makes them excellent for toddlers with various allergies. Babyfoode.com offers seven easy popsicles recipes you can try this summer!
#10 Fruit Smoothie for a Quick Vitamin Boost
Smoothies are snacks for toddlers in which you can pack many beneficial nutrients. Mix a couple of superfoods, such as broccoli and avocado, with cherries and banana, to make a super-delicious and nourishing drink. Not only that but they can help with constipation too.
My daughter’s favorite is with blueberries and oatmeal. I make it using the recipe from Kristineskitchenblog.com.
#11 Veggie Snacks for Toddlers with Hummus
Hummus is a humble ingredient you can mix with plenty of things and make easy healthy snacks for toddlers, or even for a deliciously healthy lunch. For example, you can serve carrot sticks with homemade hummus using the recipe from Sneakyveg.com, or make a hummus wrap with cucumber, broccoli, avocado and tomato.
#12 Trail Mix for a Playful Toddler
Here is one of the healthy dry snacks for toddlers – a trail mix with several ingredients. You can mix your toddler’s favorite snacks, such as pretzels with fresh blueberries, grilled veggies and whatever other ingredients come to your mind!
#13 Avocado Snack for a Nutritious Knockout
You can always serve avocado on its own. But to make it even better, stuff it with thin-chopped veggies, or an egg. Avocado is also a perfect toddler breakfast, because of its high healthy fats content.
#14 Fruit and Cheese Kebabs for a Crowd
If you are looking for some cheese snacks for toddlers you can prepare in minutes and serve to a bunch of children, fruit and cheese kebabs are excellent! They are also perfect as first birthday party treats.
Grab wooden skewers and rack up cubes of cheese with fruits, such as strawberries, melon, grapes, and blueberries.
#15 Homemade Granola Bars for Snacks on the Go
Planning the best healthy snacks for toddlers when you are going on a trip can be challenging. That is why homemade granola bars are great. You can make them the night before and pack them in your bag, and serve wherever you are – in the car, beach, or even the park!
The Minimalisticbaker.com recipe includes only five ingredients, and the granola bars are fantastic!
#16 No Toddler Resists DIY Goldfish Crackers
Whenever you can, make your own snacks rather than buy ones from the store. That way, you can control the ingredient’s quality and nutrition. Use the Halfbakedharvest.com recipe for the most delicious homemade goldfish crackers!
#17 Three Ingredients Waffle? Yes, please!
Did you know that you don’t need a ton of ingredients to make good snacks for toddlers? Mix cheese, sweet potato, and eggs to make a healthy waffle batter! Find the complete recipe on Hellospoonful.com for the best waffles ever.
#18 Broccoli Cheese Cups for Picky Eaters
Even though broccoli is infamous for being a food that toddlers hate, you can try mixing it with cheddar cheese. It is the best way to sneak broccoli into your kid’s meals – mix it with other, tasty foods your child loves!
Broccoli cups don’t need more than 20 minutes in the oven, and five minutes for mixing ingredients.Thelazydish.com has an excellent recipe on that.
#19 Make Homemade Pizza When You Have Time
Homemade pizza is on my list of toddler snack ideas for more than one reason. It is delicious, all children love it, it’s easy to make and you can sneak some veggies on top that wouldn’t normally go on top of pizza.
The awesome thing about pizza is that, you are free to add beef, chicken meat or fish meat as toppings to your liking! You can use store-bought pizza dough or make one yourself from whole-wheat flour and yeast. Check out this simple recipe for toddler-friendly pizza you can try.
#20 Citrus Salad Makes for a Lovely Juicy Snack
The best toddler snacks include various ingredients, superfoods that help them develop healthy organs, grow and support their immune system. Citrus salads are rich in vitamin C and antioxidants that help them fight diseases.
You can add other fruits, such as pomegranate seeds or blueberries to the salad, and a fresh mint for flavor and smell.
#21 Cookies for the Whole Family
What better toddler healthy snacks are there that the whole family can enjoy? It’s none other than cookies! However, use sugar sparsely, and whole-wheat flour, dark chocolate, and other nutritive ingredients.
Consider the recipe from Mjandhungryman.com with banana and rolled oats if you want to cut the sugar and make dairy-free cookies.
Conclusion
As you can see, it takes a little bit of creativity to plan and make snacks for toddlers. Some of my recommendations can stay fresh for a couple of days, work for trips and picnics, but all of them ensure enough vitamins, proteins and other nutritious ingredients toddlers need at that age.
Did you enjoy the list? If you have more ideas for great snacks for toddlers that are easy to make and healthy, please share them @babyjourney0183 at Pinterest! Send the article to other moms to help them get inspired!
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