Toddlers need a diverse diet that is full of vital minerals and vitamins. Snacks are vital for keeping your toddler from getting crabby between meals. Thus it’s vital to help him/her maker his/her own snack so that they learn about the safety of the kitchen. Remember that any snack you serve must include fruits or vegetables and proteins. These foods are not only healthy but they also keep the toddler full and content for hours to come. Moreover, toddlers love to help in the kitchen and like to be adventurous. Try several new things when they are helping you to cook.
Healthy snacks for/with toddlers
1. Smoothies
Though toddlers would find difficult operating the blender, they can help you with every other step in making a good and healthy fruit smoothie. Allow your toddler to select the fruit it likes and help him/her to wash it in the sink. Make use of a knife for cutting off any stems or fruits like melon into large pieces. Then allow your child to pour few handfuls of fruit, a quarter cup of orange juice and a few spoons of yogurt into the blender. Then help the child to pour the drink into a cup when it’s blended smoothly.
2. Chips and Dip
If you see chips at store, they are packed with salt and fat but it is easy and of course healthy to make it at home. Allow your toddler to tear pitas or whole wheat tortillas into pieces and spread them on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Then bake them till the edges start browning and serve small bowl of chips along with farm dip or hummus and salsa for dipping. Also, allow the child to mash couple of slices of avocado in a bowl and add some chopped tomato and salt to it.
3. Spreads
For almost any kind of spreads that your child likes, you can have a half of whole wheat bagel, whole wheat tortilla or graham crackers as base. Let your toddler spread low fat cream cheese and a fruit jelly onto crackers or a bagel or spread a spoon full of peanut butter over a tortilla. Help him/her put small chunks of apples or raisins on top and rolls up the tortilla. Rather than a knife, let the child use the fingers as most of the toddlers enjoy getting their hands dirty
4. Baked goods
Allow your child to prepare baked goods by following directions. Select a recipe for zucchini bread or blueberry muffins that includes applesauce that would make the dish damp and avoid excess butter required by several baked good recipes. Let the child dump all into a bowl by measuring ingredients. The child could also help in mixing up the batter and pour it into the prepared can.
5. Banana pops
You would require 3 bananas, 6 popsicle sticks, ¼ cup peanut butter that’s softened and ¼ cup chopped walnuts or peanuts, crispy rice cereal, granola or sunflower seeds. Let your toddler peel the bananas and cut them in half in width and push a Popsicle stick through the cut end of each half. Then tell him/her to spread the peanut butter on the bananas and then to roll them in cereals or seeds and nuts. Help your child to wrap them in waxed paper and freeze for 3 hours.
6. Sea Shells
The ingredients that you need for this snack are 8 jumbo pasta shells, one cup tuna or filling of egg salad and ½ cup grated cheese. Cook the pasta shells and then drain and rinse them in cold water. Have your toddler fill each shell with egg salad or tuna and let him/her sprinkle grated cheese if he/she wishes and it’s ready to be served.
7. Cold Cut Puzzler
Allow your child to put the puzzling sandwich together. Allow him/her to make a sandwich with bologna and cheese. Cut the sandwich into several shapes and then separate them, mix them and put it on his/her plate. Let the toddler reconstruct the sandwich by joining the puzzle before he/she eats it.
8. Baggy bugs
Put a graham cracker in a plastic baggy, then seal it and using a large spoon crush the crackers into fine powder. Add few raisins to the bag and have your toddler dig for bugs in the sand. You can also experiment with other tasty critters cranberry, carob chip and fruit snack worms.
