Summer in New Zealand is fast approaching and those long lazy days playing at the beach or in the back yard with the sprinkler on now no longer seem so far away! With the beautiful sunshine encouraging them to play outside all the time, toddlers don’t have the inclination to sit down and eat – even though they should! So to make things easy for parents, we have made a list of some of the best on-the-go healthy summer snacks for toddlers!
Best Healthy Summer Snacks For Toddlers
- Fruit Kebabs
An oldie, but a goodie; fruit kebabs are a popular way of getting those important serves of fruit into our toddlers. As regular kebab sticks can be sharp and dangerous around little ones, try using ice block sticks instead! The thicker sticks give a bigger handle for little hands to hold onto and they are just the right length to hold a small variety of summer fruit. How about a combination of banana, strawberry and kiwifruit? Or even apple, date and orange?
- Fruit Smoothie Ice Blocks
Fruit smoothies are so yummy all year round, but to make them even better for summer you can freeze them! Just make your regular smoothie and pour into ice block moulds, add the sticks and pop into the freezer. Or for different shapes you could pour into muffin tins, little skinny glasses or even chocolate moulds – but don’t forget the sticks for handles! Some great smoothie combinations are banana and strawberry, pineapple and pear or even yogurt and apple. This is one of our most favourite healthy summer snacks for toddlers.
- Yogurt Covered Raspberries
With only two ingredients – fresh raspberries and Greek yogurt – your toddler can enjoy a tasty calcium rich treat this summer! Just wash and dry the raspberries and using a toothpick, dip each one into the yogurt and place on a grease proof paper lined tray. Once the tray is full, just pop it into the freezer until the yogurt is set. This is one snack that is sure to also be super popular with older kids and parents too!
- Toothpick Snacks
Variety is the spice of life, so how about offering toothpick snacks to your toddler? No, not eating the toothpicks, but using them to help them eat a variety of healthy snacks such as small cubed pieces of bread, grapes, ham, cheese, apple and watermelon. Toddlers could try combining foods together on their toothpicks to test out new flavours and textures, as well as having a really neat way of getting the food into their mouths!
- Cracker Biscuit Sandwiches
Sometimes even a chopped up sandwich can seem too big to eat, which is why cracker biscuits sandwiches are a perfect replacement! Easy to make using little plain crackers, just place the fillings such as ham, cheese and lettuce between two cracker biscuits. Other fillings could include cream cheese and pineapple, marmite and cheese or even turkey and ham together for those meat loving toddlers!
While sugary treat foods such as cakes, biscuits and lollies should be a part of your toddler’s diet, they are treat foods and need to be treated as such. But with our list of yummy and healthy summer snacks for toddlers sure to impress even the fussiest eater, you may find they ask for a healthy snack option first instead!