Everyday my daughter gets off the bus from school and we have the same conversation.
How was school?
Good.
Were you a good girl?
Yes.
Did you do anything fun?
No, can I have a snack now?
I’m always prepared for it because it’s the same thing she has asked every day since she started talking. Kids love to snack, so keeping healthy snacks in the house is a must. It promotes healthy eating choices that they need to carry into adulthood.
The only way you’re going to get your kids to make good choices is by providing them with the best options. If you ask a child to choose between a candy bar and an apple, chances are they are going to choose the candy bar. But if you never had the candy bar in the house it isn’t there as an option to choose. You are your child’s advocate to healthy living. They can’t do it without you and seeing you make the right choices sets the standard. It all boils down to your grocery shopping. Don’t include junk foods; they are generally filled with empty calories anyways, leaving your child complaining that they are still hungry long before dinner is ready.
Give them lots of different options. We created a hungry box for the pantry and the refrigerator. The snacks are portioned out in the proper serving sizes and give her a variety to choose from. Plain fruit can be boring, mix things up by adding nuts or greek yogurt with it. Add healthy grains along with vegetables as an option. If you plan your snacks ahead just like you would do other meals, you won’t be stressing about it when they start asking for it. 
Make a snack plan for the week. Sit down with your kids and plan it together. It is their snack after all. It gives them something to look forward to during the week if they got to pick it out themselves. The best way to do this is give them a handful of recipes and snack options to choose from. Then get a weekly calendar that you can write on. Let your child select which snack they will eat on each day of the week. Then you can make it ahead of time so it’s ready the moment they walk in the door.
One of my favorite snacks to feed the girls are the Mott’s® Snack & Go applesauce pouches. Especially if we are running to violin lessons and we have to eat on the run. I know they won’t make a mess because of the pouches. Mott’s® Snack & Go comes in a variety of flavors, so they won’t get bored of just plain applesauce. My daughter loves the Strawberry Applesauce. They are perfectly portioned and easy to carry around with you when you’re on the go. It keeps them full until dinnertime.
Here are some other great snack ideas for kids that you can use to make your weekly snack plans.
You can find my list of 10 Healthy Snack Ideas here or check out these great ones on my Pinterest board.
Follow Meghan @JaMonkey Cooper's board Healthy Snacks on Pinterest.
Mott’s® Snack & Go is the nutritious applesauce kids love in a squeezable pouch they can take with them wherever they go. Mott's is also the only applesauce brand with Box Tops for Education®, helping to support kids' schools. Visit Motts.com to learn more.
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Mott’s® via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Mott’s®
We are big fans of the pouches, too…I especially like the ones that sneak in a little veggies!
My kids are big-time snackers, too. My pantry is stocked up with granola bars, nuts, and of course apple sauce!
It’s such a great idea to have a healthy snack plan. I love the line “You are your child’s advocate to healthy living” that is so true. The Motts applesauce in those pouches is a nice, neat snack they can eat on the go. I’ll have to try that.
Love the ideas on your pinterest board esp the guacamole deviled eggs!
This is a great post! I think these ideas can work for anyone – if it’s not in the house and not an option, you can’t eat it! My favorite snack for kids is apples because they clean their teeth after eating. Thanks for sharing!
I can’t stand that motts sneaks high fructose corn
syrup into all but their “natural” pouches. The packaging looks so similar I’ve accidentally bought the wrong ones. What an unneeded ingredient running the health of naturally sweet fruit.
The Natural Mott’s Grab n’ Go packs do not have high fructose corn syrup in them. There are a few flavors that do and a few that don’t. I agree with you on it not being needed. I don’t serve it to my kids. The two flavors I have pictured here don’t contain it. Hope this helps!