Healthy Springtime Snack Ideas

Robin Williams once said “spring is nature’s way of saying, “lets party!” You can use the change in seasonal fruits and vegetables to help liven up your children’s taste buds and offer them exceptional nutritional value in their springtime snacks.

Blueberry Muffin Energy Balls

Flickr Creative Commons: Photo by @rsseattle

Blueberries are just coming into season and the benefits that come with them are amazing. They are known to soften skin, fight cancer and they are anti-inflammatory. There are a million ways to incorporate them into your child’s diet. Chose an amazing, all natural, healthy and raw ingredient recipe to ensure the care of what goes into your children’s bodies. Blueberry Muffin Energy Balls only have six ingredients. They are easily portable, so you could put them into a lunchbox or eat them on the go.

Homemade Fruit Roll Ups

Homemade fruit roll ups are another great way to utilize all the fruits coming into season this spring. You can use any type of fruit you would like, but some seasonal suggestions include peaches, apricots or pears. This recipe may take a little more time, but can be stored for up to a month so a little preparation goes a long way. Mix fruits to take your children’s taste buds to a whole other level.

Butterfly Snack Packs

Sometimes the way a snack is packaged is all that matters to encourage little ones to eat fruits and vegetables. Butterfly snack packs are a great way to package any healthy child treat! Others have filled them with grapes, cereal or blueberries, but the possibilities are endless.

Flickr Creative Commons: Photo by Jeffreyw

Heart-Healthy Granola Bars

Granola Bars are a favorite of many people- big and small. Our heart-healthy granola bars are super easy to make and you’ll feel good sharing them with your loved ones. They include a lot of great fiber too!

These snacks are portable & nutritious! They also could be made in advance for healthy treats all season long. Try one today- happy springtime snacking!

Healthy Halloween Treats

Halloween is a notorious celebration of sweets, but that doesn’t mean healthy snacks need to be spooked out of your child’s holiday assortment. Check out these fun, delicious, DIY snacks; options like these are guaranteed to be helpful, and these pictures pretty accurately demonstrate how no-fuss your snack-assembly projects can be!

Picture from here.

Apple Monster Mouths: All you need to create this festive snack are sliced apples, yogurt-covered raisins and peanut butter! The process is as simple as the ingredients – just hollow out your apple slices, fill them with peanut butter and top them off with the raisins Not a fan of the latter? Almonds make for an excellent substitute.

Picture from here.

Snack-o’-Lantern Fruit Cups : Struggle when it comes to pumpkin carving? Good news; hollowing out these cut-out oranges is easy! Give your oranges some fun jack-o-lantern faces, and then fill them with an assortment of fruit or tasty trail mix!

Picture from here.

Spooky Spider Crackers : To concoct these Spooky Spider Crackers, you'll need circular whole wheat crackers, peanut butter or cream cheese, pretzels and raisins. Smooth your topping of choice over one side of the cracker, add your pretzel legs, and sandwich it all together with more spread and another cracker. Finally, give your spiders their eyes with a dollop of spread and a pair of raisins!

Picture from here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheese Broom Sticks : If your child loves string cheese, this snack is likely to be a smash hit. Using string cheese and fresh chives, you can assemble these broomsticks in under 20 minutes!

Picture from here.

BOO-nana Ghost Pops : Who knew bananas could easily shape-shift into terrifying ghosts? You'll start with frozen bananas, and dip them into orange juice, followed by shredded coconut. Go heavy on the shredded coconut. Then, using mini chocolate chips and raisins, design their ghostly faces! For less of a mess, cut your bananas in half and stick them onto Popsicle sticks!

So, hopefully our ideas will kick start your DIY creativity. Candy and other sweets will inevitably sneak into their diets whether you like it or not, so consider these easy, healthy treats as a way to offset the classic Halloween sugar binge!

For more DIY food ideas and crafts for the entire family, follow us on Pinterest and check out our ‘Healthy Halloween’ board.

Happy snacking!