I got to thinking the other day about healthy snack habits of kids. I know that it's important for kids to snack in between meals, after all they are growing. However, how can we create healthy snack ideas in kids? There are many healthy snacks out there....I'm not saying that kids can't have pudding...gold fish etc...But maybe if we try to keep healthy snack food where they can reach it maybe they'll love it more.
My youngest who is 3, loves carrots ( can demolish a 2 lb bag of baby carrots in two hours), any fruit and most veggies. My oldest who is 5 loves yogurt, all fruit and veggies. In our fridge we try each week to have apples, kiwi, oranges, cucumbers etc available in the fridge. They are encouraged to have those as snacks. Not saying that they do not eat some "junk food" sometimes but I always offer healthy options first.
We started this when they were babies and I'm sure that has helped. When they were 1ish we never gave them candy...For Easter we did broccoli and grapes. They didn't know any different. They got 1 piece of candy every so often but we never made it a habit. Even now my oldest would rather have veggies or fruit then candy.
We do also include granola bars, yogurt, peanuts etc as other options. Its very important to me to make healthy snacks an option. I know that many might disagree but if you only present healthy options they will have no other choice. If they truly want snacks they will eat it.
You can make celery sticks, add peanut butter and raisins, do healthy dipping options for fruit. Encourage your kids to eat healthy snacks, and make it their only option.
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