Are you ready for summer? Summertime brings big change for children who will be spending more time at home now that the school year has come to a close. As a parent, you want to make sure that your children develop healthy eating habits. Here are a few summer snack ideas to help make sure your children are snacking healthy!
Out with the bad, and in with the good.
Parents might feel like they don’t have control over what their children eat during the summer. One solution to this problems is to minimize – or completely eliminate – unhealthy snacks in your pantry, freezer, or fridge. Instead of chips and cookies, stock your shelves with healthy, nutritious snacks.
Let your children help choose snacks.
“Help” is the key word here. If left entirely up to children, snacks might consist of cakes, chips, pizza rolls, and sodas. Let your children choose from healthy summer snack options. This can help ensure that your kids have foods that they enjoy.
For example, there are lots of fresh fruit and vegetables in season. Visit your local farmer’s market and let your kids help pick some produce!
Establish regular snack times.
Healthy eating is as much about habits as it is the foods that you eat. Designate regular times for snacks, maybe a snack in the morning and a snack in the afternoon. This can help prevent snacking throughout the entire day.
Healthy summer snacking is easy! Keep unhealthy food out of the house, and make healthy foods convenient! Click To TweetMake healthy foods convenient.
One reason people like junk food is that it’s filled with salt and refined sugar. Another reason is that prepared snack foods are convenient. It’s easier to pop open a bag of chips than it is to wash, peel, and cut a vegetable tray. So, make healthy foods convenient for snacking!
Cut and prepare vegetables and keep them in containers in the refrigerator so they’re ready for snacking.
Peel oranges, cube melons, or prepare fruit salads, and store them ready-to-eat in containers in the fridge.
Bake and cube some chicken instead of keeping frozen chicken nuggets on hand.
Great summer snacks
Here’s a list of healthy and nutritious foods that are perfect for summer snacking! These foods are easy to prepare, or require no preparation at all!
Veggies
- Carrots
- Cucumbers
- Celery
Fruits
- Apples
- Bananas
- Berries
- Cherries
- Peaches
- Melons
Frozen fruit is a fun and refreshing summertime snack!
Nuts
- Almonds
- Cashews
- Peanuts
Dips/Spreads
- Almond butter
- Hummus
- Peanut butter
Other snacks
- Plain popcorn
- Falafel
- Baked chicken