Here you'll find over 75 quick, easy and healthy snack ideas for kids on the go, plus our recommendations for eco friendly snack containers.
I don't know about you, but in the school holidays my kids are ALWAYS hungry! When we're out and about all day, bringing snacks with us is a must, but how do you keep snacks healthy and interesting?
You'll find more than 75 healthy snack ideas for kids in today's post, all really quick and easy to pack and perfect for taking out with you when you're on the go!
I've divided all the snack ideas up into food groups to help make the list easier to read. I'd recommend trying to bring snacks from a couple of different food groups each time to keep things balanced and interesting - there should be more than enough different snack combinations here to keep you going all the year around!
Fresh Fruit Snack Ideas
Fruit is always my kids first choice and there are loads of different fresh fruits that are great for snacking on. Whole fruits like apples and bananas are really handy to chuck in a bag but if you set aside a little time to prep a couple of times a week, you can also make up little tubs or pouches of cut fruit ready to grab and go whenever you're leaving the house.
Grapes (halved for younger children)
Apples, whole
Apple slices (dipped in orange juiceto prevent browning)
Blueberries
Strawberries
Raspberries
Blackberries
Cherries (stoned and halved for younger children)
Peach slices (fresh or tinned)
Nectarine (whole or stoned and sliced)
Apricot (fresh or tinned)
Plums (whole or stoned and sliced)
Kiwi slices
Figs (whole or quartered)
Chopped pineapple
Chopped mango
Melon chunks
Watermelon slices
Mandarin/clementine segments
Orange wedges
Banana
Dried Fruit Snack Ideas
Dried fruit is really handy to keep in your bag for emergency snacking - it can last for months so can be a real saviour if you've forgotten to bring anything fresh. To save money, buy larger bags of dried fruit and divide them into small snack bags, tubs or pouches - you could get the kids help you make up your own mix of fruits too.
Raisins
Sultanas
Cranberries
Apricots (chopped for younger children)
Apple rings (chopped for younger children)
Banana chips
Yogurt covered raisins
Mango
Coconut flakes
Freeze dried strawberries
Dried Fruit Snacks (we love Organix gummies)
Energy balls (try my fruity flapjack energy bites recipe)
Vegetable Snack Ideas
Snacking is the ideal time to boost that all important 5 a day with some extra vegetables. I often find that my kids will eat veggies as a snack that they'd turn their noses up at dinner time - sometimes all it takes is a change of location to make healthy foods more attractive and exciting! Kids love baby vegetables like carrots and peppers, the cuteness factor makes them extra appealing and from an adult perspective, minimal prep is a massive bonus! Serve vegetables just as they come or bring along a small tub of something for dipping - you'll find some dip ideas further down this post.
Carrot sticks
Baby carrots
Cucumber sticks
Baby cucumbers
Celery sticks
Baby sweetcorn (raw or lightly steamed)
Sugar snap peas (raw or lightly steamed)
Green beans (raw or lightly steamed)
Broccoli florets (lightly steamed)
Peas in their pods
Red pepper sticks
Mini peppers
Cherry tomatoes (halved for younger children)
Roasted chickpeas (try my maple spiced roasted chickpeas recipe)
Carbohydrate Snack Ideas
Children need plenty of carbohydrates to keep them going and there are loads of easy options available. Look for wholemeal, low salt and low sugar options for the healthiest snacks.
Plain popcorn
Mini Breadsticks
Dry Cereal
Rice cakes
Oatcakes
Mini Ryvita
Mini biscuits (we love Organix animal biscuits and mini gingerbread men)
Mini Crackers
Mini cheese savouries
Mini pretzels or pretzel sticks
Leftover cooked pasta shapes
Leftover new potatoes
Leftover potato wedges
Sliced wholemeal pitta bread
Tortilla crisps (try my easy homemade tortilla crisps recipe)
Mini sandwiches
Homemade flapjacks
Homemade granola bar (try this super healthy granola bar recipe)
Homemade sweet muffins (try my )
Homemade savoury muffins (try my rainbow vegetable muffins recipe or ham and cheese muffins recipe)
Protein & Dairy Snack Ideas
Eating a good variety of protein rich foods is really important for growing kids and it's also great for keeping them fuller for longer when you're out and about.
Rolled ham slices
Rolled roast beef slices
Shredded roast chicken
Hard boiled eggs (try usingegg moulds to make them extra fun!)
Mixed Seeds
Nuts (avoid whole nuts for children under 5)
Grated or cubed cheddar cheese
Mini Babybel cheese
Cheese triangles
Snack Dip Ideas
Keep things interesting by packing a small tub of dip with your snacks - it's amazing how much more attractive healthy snacks like crispy vegetables, oat cakes or bread sticks become once you've got something to dip them in!
Hummus (you might enjoy my roasted carrot hummus or recipes)
Yogurt Dip for Fruit (you might like my healthy coconut fruit dip recipe)
Cream cheese
Peanut, almond or cashew butter
Mild salsa
Guacamole
When it comes to packing our snacks, we have several favoruite eco-friendly boxes and pouches to pack them in. The leak-proof classic Yumbox is great for holding a variety of snacks for the whole family, and the cute Yumbox Mini Snack holds the perfect amount of dip and nibbles for one or two of you.
Nom Nom Kids makes some super cute reusable snack pouches which my kids love, and their reusable yogurt pouches are fantastic too (yogurt without the mess - so brilliant when you're out and about!).
The Goodbyn Small Meal box is another great one for snacks and you can divide it up with silicone muffin cups for extra flexibility. Finally Sistema make some great snack boxes, we particularly love the little leak-proof 'yogurt to go' tubswhich are perfect for snacks of all shapes and sizes!
For even more easy healthy snack ideas and recipes, check out the snack ideas for kidssectionhere on the Eats Amazing blog or pop over and follow myHealthy Snack IdeasPinterest boardfor fresh and seasonal inspiration all the year around!
Do you take snacks out with you whenever you leave the house with the kids? What are your favourite foods to pack?
Grace
Disclosure: This post contains someAmazon affiliate links; I may receive commission on items purchased through the links.
I hope you found this collection of healthy snack ideas useful, please pin it so you can find it again if you did!
