As parents our responsibility is to choose the foods that are served at meal and snack times. The children will decide how much of those foods they will eat. The goods news is that is doesn't take any extra time to plan a healthy snack.

What kinds of foods make the best snacks?
Try to pick nutrient-dense foods like grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy or high-protein choices. There is no magic to the grouping of snacks - you can combine them any way you like. You might think about part of the snack to quench thirst and part of the snack to satisfy hunger. Fruits have high water content and can quench a thirst; milk can satisfy thirst and also satisfy hungry children.

Finger Foods are a Favorite!
Try pieces of vegetables or fruit - perhaps with ranch dressing, peanut butter or yogurt to dip into.

Cheese and/or fruit chunks, served with toothpicks.
Crackers with peanut butter, or a snack mix of different shaped cereal pieces.
Dried fruit pieces mixed with nuts.
String cheese and air popped popcorn.
Muffin halves, or slices of pumpkin/banana bread.
Tortilla chips with bean dip and/or salsa.

The possibilities are endless - use your imagination but keep it simple and easy for you to prepare.

Foods That Don't Make Good Snacks

The foods listed here are not good snacks because they are not nutrient dense and are high in sugar and/or fat. But as you know, many of these items are popular with children, as they are with adults.

*Candies, breath mints, lozenges-regular and sugar free, chips, cheese curls, candy bars, chocolate bread, spreads, packaged cookies, candies, cakes and sweet baked goods, granola bars, gum, honey, syrup, jams, jellies, marshmallows, pop (regular and diet), popsicles, sugar coated cereals, tea and coffee, fruit flavored drink (Hi-C, Tang, Hawaiian Punch), fruit punch or beverage.

A sensible approach to dealing with poor snacks like these is to make allowance for them once in a while, not everyday and not too often, just once in a while. Ideally, children should eat sweets at a time and a place where they can brush their teeth afterwards.

Healthy Snack Ideas:

Grains	Fruits	Vegetables	Dairy	High Protein
Begal	Apples	Cherry Tomatoes	Cheese	Eggs –
Baked Tortilla Chips	Apricots	Tomato Juice	Cottage Cheese	hard cooked or deviled
Bread	Banana	Salsa	Milk – ½%, 1%	Hummus
Buns/Rolls	Berries	V-8 Juice	Chocolate Milk	Nuts and Seeds
Bread Sticks	Canned Fruit		Milk Pudding	Peanut Butter
Cereal (not sugar coated)	(packaged in fruit juice)	Raw Vegetables	String Cheese	Bean Dip
Crackers	Cantaloupe	Broccoli	Yogurt Beverages
English Muffins	Cherries	Carrots	Yogurt	Mixed Food Snacks
Graham Crackers	Dried Fruit Pieces	Cauliflower		Pizza
Hot Cereal	Raisins	Celery		Sandwich quarters
Muffins-whole grain	100% Fruit Juice –	Cucumbers		Cheese
Pita Bread	Vitamin C Fortified	Green Beans		Egg Salad
Popcorn – air pop or	Grapes	Kohlrabi		Ham
lowfat microwave	Kiwi	Peppers		Peanut Butter
Pretzels	Mango	Radishes		Tuna Salad
Rice Cakes	Melons	Rutabaga Strips		Salmon Spread
Snack Mix of bite-sized	Nectarines	Snowpeas		Peanut Butter or
cereal pieces	Oranges	Spinach Dip		Cheese & Crackers
	Papaya	Sweet Potato Slices		¼ Begal with Cheese
	Peaches	Turnip Strips		or Peanut Butter
	Pears	Zucchini		Tortillas with Melted
	Pineapple			Cheese & Salsa