Easy After-School Snack Ideas

Check out these easy—and fun—snack ideas for your kids:

Ants on a Log: This is a classic. Wash and slice celery sticks and fill them with peanut butter (or any nut butter) and top with raisins. You can even use other dried fruits if you wish to add a variety of flavors.

Fruit Cutouts: Use mini cookie cutters to cut shapes out of all sorts of things. One idea is to slice various fruits (kiwi, watermelon, apples, pears, peaches) thinly and then use small cookie cutters to cut them out into fun shapes. The kids think they are eating a star and don't know it’s good for them.

Silly Snack Faces: Take rice cakes or bread and spread cream cheese, peanut butter, cheese sauce or another spread. Provide your child with raisins to use for eyes, apple strips to serve as a mouth, grated carrots to use as hair, etc. You spread them and let your child do the rest. The kids love to get creative and have fun before they gobble down their snacks!

Kebabs: What kids don't love to play with their food? Take Popsicle sticks (safer than skewers) and cut up various fruits into cubes. Help your child thread them onto the stick to make a kebab. Give them some yummy caramel dip or cream cheese for dunking.

Yogurt Parfaits: Get some fun cups (try the dollar store to find some fun ones that can be your parfait cups) and layer in yogurt and then fruit with another layer of yogurt and fruit. Top with nuts, granola or even chocolate chips. Yum!

Trail Mix: Purchase various nuts, raisins, dried fruits, granola, popcorn, pretzels and some M&Ms. Pour equal amounts of each item into a large bowl.  Cover, shake and snack!.