Easy, healthy snack ideas for young toddlers

There are lots of great options for serving your children quick and healthy snacks. When families are on the go, it's important to have lots of options that are easy to prepare, and easy to take with you. Here is a list from the super-simple, to the slightly more involved:

Fruit: Apples, Oranges, Pears, Strawberries, Blueberries, Bananas etc. The more you can encourage your child to eat fruit as a "sugar-fix," rather than candy or processed snacks filled with high-fructose corn syrup, the better.

Dried Fruit: Cranberries, Cherries, Apricots, Raisins. You get the idea.

Veggies: Carrot sticks, celery sticks, cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices. Grab some single-serving ranch dressings from the grocery store and you're ready to go!

Celery w/ Peanut Butter. This is slightly less portable, but it's still quick and easy as long as your child doesn't have a peanut allergy. All you need is some celery sticks and about a tablespoon of peanut butter. If your child likes raisins, throw some on top.

Apples with Peanut Butter. Same idea as above, but slightly sweeter.

Sandwich squares. As long as you use 100% whole wheat bread (if you start them on it as toddlers, they'll love it forever), & stick to lean meats (turkey, chicken) and mustard (rather than mayonnaise) as toppings, there's no reason why this wouldn't be a healthy option. Make 1 sandwich in the morning & cut it into 4 squares--dole one or two squares out for a snack.

Boiled Eggs. Just boil a dozen at the beginning of the week, put them in the fridge, and they're ready to go when you need them.

Single Serving Yogurts. Get a "light" version, this means there is less added sugar and lower fat content.

String Cheese. What kids doesn't like string cheese? Get the good, old-fasioned mozzarella so that your child can actually pull off strips of cheese.

Whole wheat crackers. Top with whatever you want: peanut butter, jelly, lean sandwich meat, or cheese. Make sure to only serve a single-serving size, as listed on the box.

100% fruit popsicles. The great thing about this is you can make them using your child's favorite fruit juice, or you can make multipe varieties. Just purchase a popsicle mold from a grocery store. At home, fill the mold with your child's favorite 100% juice variety (orange, lemonaide, cranberry-grape, etc., you can even use the V-8 Splash or Juicy-Juice options). Put them in the freezer and you'll have great, healthy snacks available in a few hours.

Frozen Peanut Butter Bananas: This is a little more involved, but a great way to get your child involved in fixing a healthy snack. You'll need bananas, popsicle sticks, smooth peanut butter and granola. Get 2 or 3 medium bananas, peel them & cut them in half. Stick a popsicle stick into the cut side. Coat them in a thin layer of smooth peanut butter, then roll them in granola. Put them on a small pan or a tupperware container & freeze them. In a few hours you'll have a delicious, healthy frozen treat. You can do the same thing using hersheys syrup for an extra chocolatey version.

Well, those are at least a starting point. I hope you and your child enjoy them!