With the wide selection of sugar filled items in the stores today children want nothing to do with eating healthy. Most of us moms continue buying these convenient, half decent priced items because our children really want them and Food Lion has them buy one get one free this week. As soon as we get home from the grocery store our children immediately want to eat one. We let them and threaten them that they can't have anymore until tomorrow. Tomorrow comes and they take one with them to school for snack. They return home and of course are hungry, so we let them have a another and once again threaten that they can't have anymore. Within 10 minutes of finishing their sugary snack they are hungry again and we wind up having to make some Mac & Cheese or a sandwich for them, well there went the whole convenience idea.

So how do we attempt to put an end to this madness? Easy, let your children help make a healthy snack. Now you are laughing and think I am crazy, well listen up and give me a shot. Our children love to spend time with us, help out and feel important.

One of my favorite healthy snacks that I have enjoyed for the last 22 years is 'Ants on a Log.' When I was in kindergarten my class read a book about some marching ants that liked to rest on logs. Afterwards we all got to make our own 'Ants on a Log' and then eat it for snack. This is very simple and enjoyable to make for both you and your child. All you need is celery, peanut butter and rasins. First let your child rinse the celery and you cut the ends. Next let your child spread peanut butter on the celery with a spoon. Lastly you and your child make your 'Ants', rasins march onto the log. You both will have a lot of fun and your child will want to 'play Ants on a log' with you all the time.

Another fun snack is a salad. This is no ordinary salad though. You and your child will both need a large plate. Gather a hard boiled egg, cherry tomatoes, shredded cheese, sliced cucumbers, lettuce and your favorite dressing ( ranch is low in carbs. ) Now you guys are going to have fun making a face out of your salad ingredients and comparing each others. First make a smooth layer of lettuce on your entire plate. You can use slices of the hard boiled egg to make eyes, the shredded cheese to make eye brows, the cherry tomatoes as a nose, slices of cucumbers to form a mouth, and a thin line of dressing for hair. You could even use a few bacon bits as freckles. Now compare and laugh at each others faces and enjoy your healthy snack. This will become a regular favorite of your child's indeed.

Just like our salad face, you can make a fruit face. Form a full circle on a plate with low-fat cottage cheese or low-fat yogurt ( add food coloring for fun ), use slices of kiwi for eyes, a strawberry for the nose, slices of bananas to form a mouth, and grapes for the hair. Once again, compare your faces and watch the excitement in your child's eyes as you giggle.

Snacks, nutrition, fun, feeling loved and spending time with you are all important things your child needs, why not combine them all in one.