With school starting for my kids in just about a week, I'm beginning to come up with a list of healthy snacks to stock up on! I like to keep snacks in the house that are full of protein, to keep my kids full and energized for the day as well as their after school activities. The school season is a long one and finding the perfect items for snack time is not an easy task. It's important to me that I focus on school snacks that are healthy foods, rather than filling them with sugar that will tire them out. Luckily, there are a variety of options these days and I'm pretty happy with this list. Moreover, even the picky eaters will like these snacks! Therefore, I'll lay out my shopping categories below for you to think about.
Here are 15 snacks you need for the school year ahead!
If you aren't interested in keeping any bars or crackers in the house for snacks, there are a variety of things you can pack. Fresh fruit, vegetables with hummus or ranch to dip into, or even yogurt are great ideas to start with. Whole fruit, whole grains and whole foods really are the best snacks out there, just really simple ingredients. You could even make homemade fruit roll-ups as an after school activity with your kids! Homemade trail mix also makes for easy snacking.
Here are a few snack containers if you are on the hunt for any:
Bento Box
Stainless Steel Containers
Freezable Snack Box
Furthermore, salty sweets can mean so many different things these days. Chips don't have to be the first thing to cross your mind! For instance, this can be crunch seaweed snacks, veggie sticks, pickles, salty baked chickpeas, flourless crackers or chickpea puffs. All of these salty snacks can fulfill a craving while still being both a quick snack and a healthy snack option.
I think this is everyone's favorite category for school treats! Sweet doesn't have to mean high fructose corn syrup and added sugar. For example, these can be granola bars, vanilla yogurt, dark chocolate chips, delicious bars and fruit snacks with less sugar or no added sugar. Overall, the possibilities are endless these days for sweet school snack ideas. Similarly, my kids love confetti protein balls, which I've listed below! They are great alternatives to protein balls with added sugar or nuts.
Most schools have a rule where you cannot bring peanut products into the classroom or lunchroom due to allergies. Specifically, this is where sun butter or seed butter is really ideal for school time. Comparatively, avoid things like peanut butter protein bars and go for the products that use other replacement ingredients. Finally, it's important to follow the school's rule for safety reasons and there are plenty of other snacks out there that can become your child's favorite snack that can fit into the parameters for rules on the first day of school.
If you know me, you know my kids and I have been obsessed with these snacks for months! Not only are they organic, but they are full of fantastic ingredients and none of the bad stuff! You can choose from a variety of snack options, such as hummus dippers, taco dippers and pizza dippers. Use my code:
Yumble is a kids meal delivery service that is made up of the best ingredients, so you can feel good about giving it to your kids. They even have a whole picky-eaters section to choose from! These are soy, egg and gluten free, as well as vegan. Use my code:
Protein is essential to keeping your kids feeling full and energized! These protein balls are outstanding, I love them myself! But note, they do need to stay in the freezer. Our favorite are the confetti flavor! Also, they're nut-free, so you can bring them to school!
These are Siella's favorite snack at the moment! They're slices of dill pickles that are easily packable for school, as they're in a small package. The price is fabulous and you can get them at Target!
Do your kids like fruit leather? These are delicious, my kids love these flavors and there's no artificial flavors or coloring.
Applesauce in a pouch is perfect for on the go, either at school or in between after school activities! This is a great value pack.
This is a really good, trustworthy brand! Crunchy chickpeas are full of protein to give your kids energy and they actually taste really good!
Who doesn't love fruit snacks?! These are a great option because they are GF, vegan, have natural ingredients and no added sugar!
Sometimes it's difficult to get kids to eat granola or protein bars. These are so good and taste just like a dessert! They're also peanut-free.
These are only made of apples. How great is that?! Specifically, they have no added sugar or any nasty ingredients. And they come in small packs so they're easy to throw in a backpack.
Quaker products are a staple in our house! They're not only delicious, but they're really nutricious. I know my kids are getting good ingredients while feeling full and energized from these tasty granola bars.
Think of these as a GF cheezit. They're delicious and only have a few ingredients in them, which is great!
Cheese is a great snack, especially these for on the go. The kids also have so much fun peeling them out of the red wax.
Furthermore, these are like a GF, healthy cheeto! They're so good, it's impossible to not finish the whole bag! You can get them in a few different flavors.
Finally a lot of the kids here in the city love to snack on these seaweed snacks, and I must admit, they're pretty tasty! You can even use them in your salmon bowls for dinner.