Ants on a log are an oldie but goody. Just ask most preschoolers. You may choose to cut the celery into halves or thirds to make this snack more manageable for kids.
Raisins
Peanut butter
Celery
Clean celery, dry and chop off excess on ends. Spread peanut butter into the celery. Place raisins on the peanut butter.
Frozen grapes are a classic summer treat in my family, and so easy to make. It’s better if you take the grapes off the stem, but if you’re having a bit of a lazy day, you can skip it. Just clean them off first, dry, put in a container and freeze.
If your kids find fully frozen grapes too much to handle, let them take out a small bowl and have it sit for a little while to defrost a touch.
So this one’s a little extra fun. Chocolate isn’t necessarily healthy as such, although the darker varieties are better for you than milk chocolate, but it’s sure fun. It’s not all that hard to get most kids to eat fruit, but adding a layer of chocolate might just make them beg for even more of it.
Slice the fruit into easy to eat pieces. Make sure the sliced edges aren’t too damp for the chocolate – it may not stick well if the fruit has too much moisture.
Melt chocolate chips in a bowl in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds or so until it’s smooth. Try not to overmelt your chocolate.
Prepare a silpat or line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper. Make sure there’s room in your freezer.
Dip each piece of fruit into the melted chocolate and allow the excess to drizzle off. Place on silpat or paper. Use a toothpick to dip pieces that aren’t easy to manage by hand. A fork will also work.
Freeze until chocolate hardens. It’s best to keep the fruit from freezing in most cases, so 5-10 minutes should be plenty. The fruit may not be as appealing if you freeze and then defrost it.
Yeah, here’s an easy one. Make popcorn for your kids when they want a snack this summer. It’s not ideal, what with GMO concerns and all, but odds are your kids will be very happy.
You don’t have to buy microwave popcorn packages, with all the waste that includes (not to mention the fake butter, etc.). A plain paper lunch bag works quite well, just fold the top over a couple times. I prefer my Stir Crazy popper, but use what you’ve got.
Have a little fun and quit using the basic salt and butter. There are plenty of other seasonings that are just wonderful on popcorn – some sweeter, some healthier, others just fun. You might find a new family favorite.
Kids either love hummus or hate it, I think. If they love it, hummus is a wonderful way to encourage kids to eat more vegetables when they’re home. I have a simple hummus without tahini recipe I like to use – tahini is impossible to come by in my area so far.
Slice up a selection of your kids’ favorite vegetables. My youngest goes wild for orange, red or yellow bell pepper, almost to tears if we run out of them. Celery is another great choice – she did have a screaming, on the floor tantrum a couple years ago when I told her we were out of celery. I choked back my laughter (very difficult!) and offered her some cucumber, that being what I had at the time. She accepted and calmed down. Yes folks, veggies can be a bribe if you’re that lucky!
I just put a selection out and let my kids go at it. Sometimes I keep a supply of sliced vegetables in the fridge so that they’re easy to grab as snacks. Hummus or another dip can add to the appeal.
