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The easiest school snacks: Fruits and vegetables
Most of the snacks served to children should be fruits and vegetables, since most kids do not eat the recommended number of servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Eating fruits and vegetables lowers the risk of heart disease, cancer, and high blood pressure. Fruits and vegetables also contain important nutrients like vitamins A and C, potassium, and fiber.
Serving fresh fruits and vegetables can seem challenging. However, good planning and the growing number of shelf-stable fruits and vegetable products on the market make it easier. Though some think fruits and vegetables are costly snacks, research from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2016 found that consumers can meet fruit and vegetable dietary recommendations for $2.10-$2.60 per day. Try lots of different fruits and vegetables and prepare them in various ways to find out what your kids like best.
Get more tips from CSPI News: Simple, inexpensive ways to eat more fruit and veggies
Fruits
Applesauce (unsweetened), fruit cups, and canned fruit. These have a long shelf life and are low-cost, easy, and healthy if canned in juice (instead of syrup) without food dyes like Red 3 or Yellow 5. One example of unsweetened applesauce is Mott’s Unsweetened Apple. Dole and Del Monte offer a variety of single-serve fruit bowls.
Dried fruit. Try raisins, apricots, apples, pineapple, mango, and others with little or no added sugars.
Frozen fruit. Try freezing grapes or buy frozen blueberries, strawberries, peaches, and mangoes.
Fruit salad. Get kids to help make a fruit salad. Use a variety of colorful fruits to add to the appeal.
Smoothies. Blend fruit with water plus a little juice, low-fat yogurt or milk, and ice. Many store-made smoothies have added sugars and are not healthy choices.
Fruit platters. Fresh fruit platters of cut-up fruit are a convenient option offered by some local grocery stores for in-store purchase or delivery.
Fresh, canned, and frozen fruit ideas
- Apples (it can be helpful to use an apple corer)
- Apricots
- Bananas
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Cantaloupe
- Cherries
- Clementines
- Grapefruit
- Grapes (red, green, or purple; cut in half for younger children)
- Honeydew melon
- Kiwis (cut in half and give each child a spoon to eat it)
- Mangoes
- Nectarines
- Oranges
- Peaches
- Pears
- Pineapple
- Plums
- Strawberries
- Tangerines
- Watermelon
Vegetables
Dips. Trysalad dressings (like vinaigrettes), store-bought light dips, tzatziki (a yogurt- and cucumber-based dip), guacamole, salsa, or sesame-free bean dips and spreads.
Note: Many bean dips, such as hummus, contain sesame, often labeled as tahini. Although nutritious, be mindful of allergy restrictions in school settings, as sesame is one of the most common food allergens. Try black bean dip or making your own hummus at home with additional olive oil in place of tahini!
Salad. Make a salad or set out veggies like a salad bar and let the kids build their own salads.
Soy. Edamame is fun to eat and easy to serve. Heat frozen edamame in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes.
Veggie pockets. Cut whole wheat pitas in half and let kids add veggies with hummus, bean dip, or dressing.
Low- or no-prep veggie snacks
Vegetables can be served raw with a variety of dips or salad dressings, including sesame- or tahini-free hummus, other bean dips or spreads, dip, or salad dressing:
- Broccoli
- Carrot sticks or baby carrots
- Cauliflower
- Celery sticks
- Cucumber
- Peppers (green, red, and yellow)
- Snap peas
- Snow peas
- String beans
- Tomato slices or grape or cherry tomatoes
- Yellow summer squash slices
- Zucchini slices
Healthy grains (bread, crackers, cereals, etc.)
Though most kids eat plenty of grain products, too many of those grains are cookies, snack cakes, sugary cereals, and other refined grains that are high in sugars or saturated fat. Try to serve mostly whole grains, which provide more fiber, vitamins, and minerals than refined grains. In addition, try to limit added sugars to less than 10 percent of daily calories and saturated fat to less than 10 percent of daily calories.
Note: Cookies, snack cakes, and chips should be saved for occasional treats, given their poor nutritional quality.
Whole grains for healthy kids
Whole-wheat English muffins, pita, or tortillas. Stuff them with veggies or dip them in sesame-free hummus or bean dip.
Breakfast cereal. Either dry or with low-fat milk, whole-grain cereals like Cheerios, Grape-Nuts, and Raisin Bran make good snacks. Look for cereals with no more than 6 grams of added sugars per serving and no synthetic food dyes. Here are some recommendations for buying breakfast cereal.
Crackers. Whole-grain crackers like Triscuit, which come in different flavors or thin crisps (or similar woven wheat crackers), Finn Crisp rye crackers, or whole-wheat Matzos can be served alone or with toppings, like sliced veggies or low-fat cheese.
Get more tips: How to spot the best in the cracker aisle
Rice cakes. Look for rice cakes made from brown (whole-grain) rice. They come in many flavors and can be served with or without toppings.
Popcorn. Look for pre-popped popcorn in a bag. You can also air-pop the popcorn and season it, e.g., by spraying it with olive oil and adding parmesan cheese, garlic powder, or other non-salt spices.
Granola and cereal bars. Look for nut-free granola bars or soft-baked whole-grain snack bars that are low in sugars and moderate in calories. KIND Breakfast Bars are a good option, and nut-free varieties like Honey Oat make a perfect school snack.
Check out our guide to the best protein bars, granola bars, nut bars, and more
Low-fat dairy foods
Dairy foods are a great source of calcium, which can help to build strong bones. However, dairy products also are the biggest sources of artery-clogging saturated fat in kids’ diets. To protect children’s bones and hearts, make sure all dairy foods served are low-fat or fat-free.
Plenty of calcium without sat fats
Yogurt. Look for brands that are low-fat or nonfat, moderate in sugars (no more than about 12 grams of sugars in a 6-oz. cup), and high in calcium (at least 20 percent of daily value [%DV] for calcium in a 6-oz. cup). Examples include Danimals Pouches, Go-Gurt by Yoplait, or cups of low-fat or nonfat yogurt from Stonyfield Farm, Dannon, Horizon, and similar store brands. Low-fat or nonfat yogurt can also be served with fresh or frozen fruit or healthy cereal.
Low-fat cheese. Cheese provides calcium, but its saturated fat price tag is usually too high. Cheese is the number two source of heart-damaging saturated fat in children’s diets. Even with low-fat and reduced-fat cheese, be sure to serve it with other foods like fruit, vegetables, or whole-grain crackers. Choose reduced-fat cheeses like Borden or Sargento Light Mozzarella string cheese, Frigo Light Cheese Heads, Polly-O Low Moisture Mozzarella, Laughing Cow’s Light Cheese, Mini Light Babybel, or Cabot Lite50 Sharp Cheddar.
Looking for the best cheese options? Here’s how to find a healthy dairy or plant-based cheese.
Other easy, healthy snack ideas
Allergen-free snacks. Because anyone can be allergic to any food, it can be difficult to know what’s appropriate to serve at school and other kid functions. When snacks are meant to be shared, play it safe and avoid the Big Nine food allergens: dairy, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish (like shrimp or crab), wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, and sesame. These are the most common food allergens—they’re responsible for more than 90 percent of allergic reactions in the US. Most whole fruits and vegetables are safe for most people, but when serving food at school, avoid serving anything that contains peanuts, tree nuts, or sesame, as these can cause allergic reactions in students and staff even if they aren’t eating those snacks.
Need more ideas? Here’s our list of allergen-free snacks for the whole class
Trail mix. Trail mixes are easy to make and store well in a sealed container. Items to include: whole-grain cereal, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and dried fruits like raisins, apricots, apples, or pineapple.
Healthy beverages for kids of all ages
Water should be the main drink served to kids at snack times.
Water satisfies thirst and does not have sugar or calories. (Plus, it is low-cost for caregivers!) Water should be purchased in bulk (e.g., a water cooler or gallon water containers) and served to kids in reusable cups or water bottles to avoid single-use plastics. If kids are used to getting sweetened beverages or juice at snack times, it may take a little time for them to get used to drinking water.
Great taste, no (or low) sugar
Seltzer. Carbonated drinks like seltzer, sparkling water, and club soda are healthy options. They do not contain the sugars, calories, and caffeine of sodas. For an occasional treat, mix them with equal amounts of 100 percent fruit juice.
Low-fat (1 percent) and nonfat (skim) milk. Milk provides key nutrients, such as calcium and vitamin D. Choose nonfat (skim) or low-fat (1 percent) milk to avoid the heart-damaging saturated fat found in whole and 2 percent (reduced-fat) milk. Healthy Eating Research recommends only unflavored milk, especially for children ages 0-5. Flavored milk should have no more than 130 calories per 8-ounce serving to help limit calories and added sugars. Single-serve containers of chocolate or other flavored whole or 2 percent milk drinks can be too high in calories and saturated fat (one-third of a day’s worth) to be a healthy beverage for kids.
Learn more: Why milk served in schools is always low-fat or nonfat
Non-dairy alternatives. Look for non-dairy milk options with about as much protein as cow’s milk (8 grams per cup) and fortified with calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin B-12. Fortified soy milk, fortified pea protein milk (like Ripple), and fortified almond milk with added protein, such as Silk Protein Almond Milk, all meet these criteria. “Unsweetened” and “original” varieties of plant-based milks are typically lower in added sugar than flavored chocolate or vanilla options.
Want more tips? How to find the best plant milk
Fruit juice. Experts suggest limiting the amount of 100 percent fruit juice kids drink; consider alternatives like flavored seltzers or infused water. Try adding cut fruit and vegetables, like berries, kiwi, melon, citrus, or cucumber, to your child’s water bottle for a flavor with no added sugars. If you do pack juice, be sure it’s fruit juice or fruit juice plus water with no added sweeteners. All fruit drinks must list the “% juice” on the label. Avoid the added sugars of juice drinks, punches, fruit cocktail drinks, or lemonade. Many beverages like Sunny Delight, Kool-Aid Jammers, and Capri Sun, which contain 10 percent juice or less, aren’t much different from sugary soft drinks.
Whole fruit is more nutritious than fruit juice. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children ages 1-3 drink no more than 4 oz. (less than one serving) of juice a day, children ages 4-6 drink no more than 4-6 oz. (about one serving), and children ages 7-18 drink no more than 8 oz. (one cup) of juice a day.
A note about sugary soft drinks (soda, sweetened tea, lemonade, and juice drinks): Children who drink more sweetened drinks consume more calories and are more likely to be overweight than kids who drink fewer soft drinks. Soft drinks also displace healthful foods, like milk, in kids’ diets, which can help prevent osteoporosis. In addition, soda can cause dental cavities and tooth decay.
More ideas: 6 great-tasting drinks with less sugar (or none)
