If making after-school snacks is a tradition in your family, you may find yourself making the same few snack recipes every day. However, after-school snacks are an easy way to introduce your kids to new flavors and textures (as opposed to making a whole meal) and ensure your children get more of the important nutrients they need. Try one of these 12 fantastic after-school snacks to hold you and your kids over until supper. Many of these recipes take just a few minutes to make and require only a few simple ingredients.

Cereal Bars

Image via Flickr by PersonalCreations.com Licensed CC BY 2.0

Cereal can be a great snack for any time of day, but skip the bowls and spoons with this Cereal Bar recipe. You just need Cheerios, nut butter, and honey, with optional vanilla extract for added sweetness. Bake and cut, and you’ve got snacks for the whole family for the whole week.

Homemade Fruit Leather

Opt-out of super-sugary Fruit by the Foot and Fruit Roll-ups, and make your own, healthier chewy fruit snack at home instead. You can start with simpler fruit leather recipes, like this two-ingredient recipe for fruit leather. You can also try more complex fruit leather recipes that involve creating fruit blends, adding spices and natural sweeteners, and making the leather using different methods.

Frozen Chocolate-Covered Banana Bites

When the weather is hot, a cold snack is especially refreshing. You can serve popsicles, which don’t really provide a lot of nutritional value, or you can create these fruit-filled frozen treats for a healthier alternative. All you have to do is prep the bananas, melt down some chocolate, and freeze. Before freezing, you can also top with sea salt for a more complex flavor, or keep it simple by sprinkling chopped peanuts.

Smoothie With Secret Veggies

Smoothies are a bit like fruity milkshakes, making them a great way to get kids to eat fruits and veggies, especially kids who don’t like to eat these food groups. What’s more, you can make smoothies out of practically any type of fruits and veggies, nuts and seeds, protein powders, and nut butters in various combinations for a yummy snack that provides you and your kids the nutrients you need. Plus, you can make them with and without dairy products.

Here are some of our favorite kid-friendly smoothies with sneaky vegetables:

Chocolate or Banana Avocado Pudding

Try this healthy alternative to pudding cups that requires just a handful of ingredients and no dairy. You can let your kids top their pudding with oats, fruit, whipped cream, or nuts. Plus, this snack is a great option for kiddos who are sensitive to dairy.

Nut Butter Apple Sandwiches

A small sandwich is an awesome little snack but could introduce too many bread-y carbs into your and your children’s diets. As an alternative with fruit-based carbs, protein, and healthy fats, consider making these nut butter apple sandwiches. They use slices of whole apple instead of bread or crackers, and you can use any form of nut (or seed) butter that you and your family eat, including almond butter, peanut butter, or sunflower butter. Consider adding raisins, oats, or fresh berries between slices.

Roasted Chickpeas

Chickpeas are an amazing source of protein and potassium, but some kids may not like to eat these squishy legumes during dinner. However, you can roast chickpeas for a crunchy snack that reminds kids of puffy snack foods. You can also use either sweet or savory seasonings. This Soft-Roasted Chickpea recipe has you prepare them so they’re softer and easier for littler mouths to chew. This collection of roasted chickpea recipes from Super Healthy Kids makes for crunchy chickpea goodness in four different flavors.

Hummus

You could also use your chickpeas to blend up some homemade hummus with other veggies and seasonings, or you could buy your favorite tub of hummus at the store. And, you can pair this yummy and healthy dip with practically any fresh veggie, crunchy veggie sticks, pretzels, pita bread, or pita chips.

Pita Bread Pizza

What kid wouldn’t love to come home from school to find little homemade pizzas? This kid-friendly Pita Bread Pizza recipe is simple to make; all you need is sauce, shredded mozzarella (either dairy or non-dairy), a pack of small pita rounds, and some optional toppings, including veggies like spinach, tomatoes, and zucchini, pepperoni, and fresh basil. You can even get the kids to help prepare them by setting up a pizza-making station.

Oven-Baked Veggie Quesadilla

Quesadillas are a great shareable snack since you can make a few quesadillas and serve them to multiple kiddos and adults. This oven-baked vegetable quesadilla is an even healthier twist because it’s baked in the oven instead of being pan-fried, which means less unhealthy oils and fats in the recipe. Pair it with homemade guacamole and salsa.

Chips & Guac

Like hummus, you can make your own guacamole using this kid-friendly guacamole recipe, or buy your favorite tub of guacamole at the grocery store. Pair with store-bought tortilla chips or homemade tortilla chips. You can make this recipe ahead of time and store it in the fridge, or make it fresh when the kids come home. You can also use the guacamole multiple days for other snacks, like crackers, cheese, and guacamole or guacamole on toast with fruit.

Multi-Ingredient Snack Plate

Make a little snack plate that covers some of the most important food groups. Pair a few crackers or pretzels, cubes of cheese, and a fruit or vegetable. Some of the best combinations include:

  • Pretzels, cheese, and carrots.
  • Crackers, cheese, and grapes.
  • Pretzels, cheese, and sliced avocado.
  • Crackers, cheese, and a fruit cup.


So there you have it, the top 12 after-school snacks you and your kiddos are sure to love. At Crème de la Crème, we know how important it is for your child to eat healthy. That’s why we provide healthy meals and snacks to our students. Contact your local school to learn more about how our daycare and after-school programs can help your child build healthy habits.