What are some of your favorite "recipes" that are (a) healthy, (b) transportable, and (c) likely to be enjoyed by 5-year olds? I've been asked to bring in snacks for my son's class, and I'm trying to go beyond the obvious carrot sticks and apple slices but still offer something that's healthy.
Children like to "dip", so giving them things to dip and eat is fun for them.
Cucumber, celery, carrots and other finger veggies like jicama go over well, as they aren't too strong tasting. Fruits of all sorts can be fun.
Banana "pudding" (nuts or seeds and their butters with dates or other dried fruit smashed or pureed with a bit of lemon to prevent browning) and smoothies go over well.
I like to make a low fat "Ranch" dip with silken tofu (they can't tell it's tofu if you don't tell them!). Hummus was a favorite with my little one and my charges when I was a nanny and preschool teacher.
I also made "hummus" with other beans and seeds too.
You can make sweet spreads too using dates or other dried fruit and nut or seed butters (check for allergies).
String cheese, yogurt (they come in "drinkable" cylinders now, I've noticed), lunch meats cut up into smaller pieces, whole-wheat crackers or "crustless" PB/J sandwiches.
Or, combining a lot of the ideas from the brilliant folks above:
Fruit Skewers with Dip!
At home, cut the fruit into chunks, skewer, and set aside. Make a yogurt-based dip (plain yogurt, honey, vanilla...just make it sort of sweet-ish, I might add a bit of lemon zest for flavor).
(I am borrowing from Sandra Lee on this next part here, I kind of don't like her but I thought this idea was rather clever...)
Take a cantaloupe, cut in half. Hollow out both halves. Fill the hole in one half with your dip, cover in plastic wrap. Bring the other half with you to the school.
For setup - press each fruit skewer into the cantaloupe half (place it cut side down on a plate) so that the skewers are sticking out of the cantaloupe. Put the dip-filled cantaloupe half next to it.
Amanda~my cousins did something similar to the cantaloupe thing once--they took long toothpicks (or short wooden skewers) and threaded chunks of cheese (2 or 3 kinds), salami and other types of meat and olives and small tomatoes and then poked them in a vase filled with either that green floral stuff or styrofoam (I think they may have covered it with parsley--it's been a long time). It looked like a floral arrangement and was almost too cute to eat, but a great idea for a table full of hors d’oeuvres.
Children like to "dip", so giving them things to dip and eat is fun for them.
Cucumber, celery, carrots and other finger veggies like jicama go over well, as they aren't too strong tasting. Fruits of all sorts can be fun.
Banana "pudding" (nuts or seeds and their butters with dates or other dried fruit smashed or pureed with a bit of lemon to prevent browning) and smoothies go over well.
I like to make a low fat "Ranch" dip with silken tofu (they can't tell it's tofu if you don't tell them!). Hummus was a favorite with my little one and my charges when I was a nanny and preschool teacher.
I also made "hummus" with other beans and seeds too.
You can make sweet spreads too using dates or other dried fruit and nut or seed butters (check for allergies).
Beast of luck!
You show me a kid that's actually gonna eat that kind of stuff and I'll show you a kid that's a serious rarity.
My daughter, all of her friends, all my former pre-school students all the children I nannied loved those foods. Most children will try a variety of foods and grow to like them when not told they shouldn't!
My son really liked when I made "sunflowers". Toast 1/2 an WW english muffin, top with soft cream cheese, put a small pile of raisins and sunflower seeds in the center, and make petals around it with pineapple chunks. Also trailmix is usually well accepted....whole grain cereals, crackers, raisins, etc...
You should probably check with the teacher about nut/peanut issues in the class though. My son is allergic to both and knows to avoid it when he is aware of it. But hiding it in something like a smoothie or something would have been very bad news.
Thanks for the ideas, everyone, and for the link, mandalinn. I haven't quite decided what I'll bring, but probably something from your lists!
BTW, it is a nut-free classroom. Other constraints are that the snack has to be ready to serve -- the teacher doesn't have time to cut, chop, mix, array, or what-have-you before snack time -- and also is safe to sit for 1.5-2 hours without refrigeration.
Healthy snacks for kids
