Master List of Healthy Snacks for Kids

Use this list of healthy snacks for kids to make snack time easier. This list of toddler snacks includes fresh and nonperishable options to make it easier to serve nutritious food kids will actually want to eat.

I hope this healthy snacks for kids list helps to remind you of other options when you feel stuck—r encourages you to try a few new foods with your little one.

There are nutritious toddler snacks that range from fresh fruits and veggies to whole grains, dairy snacks, protein snacks, and more to keep kids nourished between meals.

So whether you need protein snacks for kids, no-added sugar snacks, baby snacks, or no-bake snacks, this post has you covered.

TIP: Remember that most kids eat fairly balanced if you zoom out and look at their intake over the course of the week. So try not to stress about each specific meal or snack being “perfect”. It usually all evens out!

Kids Snacks with Fresh Fruit

Here are some easy snacks with fruits for kids to try with your kids. All are really fast, hydrating, and nutritious.

• Apples, thinly sliced into matchsticks or very, very thin slices
• Baked Apple Slices
• Bananas
• Berries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries)
• Citrus such as clementines, oranges, or mandarins, sliced
• Grapes for kids, sliced in half vertically
• Fruit Cups (homemade or from the store in 100% juice)
• Fruit Wands
• Kiwi
• Melon
• Mango
• Peaches, sliced or stewed peaches
• Pears

TIP: Slice fresh fruit into small cubes or very thin slices for little kids so the pieces are easy to bite.

Kids Snacks with Fresh Veggies

Offering veggies at snack time is a helpful way to increase the odds that the kids will eat more vegetables throughout the day. These are some favorites.

• Avocado, cubed or mashed on bread or toast
• Cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
• Cucumbers, sliced or diced
• Roasted sweet potato
• Shredded carrots or carrot slices/sticks (raw carrots are very hard to chew, so make sure they are very thin to start)
• Snap peas, slivered as needed
• Warmed frozen corn
• Warmed frozen edamame
• Warmed frozen peas

TIP: Offer a healthy dip for kids, such as ranch, guacamole, almond butter, salsa, sour cream, or hummus alongside any of these veggies to make them more flavorful and delicious.

Healthy Shelf-Stable Fruit Snacks

These are some of the fruits and veggies I like to keep in my pantry for additional healthy snacks for kids options besides just fresh.

• Apple chips (homemade or store-bought ones like Bare Snacks)
• Applesauce pouches
• Canned fruit in 100% juice
• Dried fruit (mango, apricots, cranberries, cherries), cut into small pieces as needed
• Freeze-dried fruit and veggies
• Fruit leather, torn into little pieces as needed
• Raisins
• Toddler pouches

Whole Grain Kids Snacks

These are some of my favorite whole grain snacks for kids to give them lots of energy between meals.

• Baby Puffs 
• Cereal for kids (low sugar): Cheerios, Kix, Chex
• Cubes of sandwiches for kids
• Homemade Graham Crackers
• Healthy Breakfast Bars
• Homemade Cheese Crackers
• Homemade Granola Bars
• Peanut Butter Oatmeal Energy Bites
• Toddler Muffins
• Waffles (leftover)
• Whole grain crackers for toddlers

TIP: These Banana Oatmeal Muffins are a forever favorite of ours.

Crunchy Kids Snacks

Kids often like crunchy textures, which can be really helpful sensory input. Just steer clear of foods like chips or tortilla chips since they can be hard to chew. (Here’s more about how to prevent toddler choking hazards.) Here are some safer ideas with crunch.

• Cheese crackers
• Chickpea Puffs
• Coconut Chips
• Freeze-dried fruit
• Oven-Dried Strawberries
• Mini rice cakes
• Quinoa chips (these are softer than regular chips and high in protein)
• Snap pea crisps
• Triscuits Thin Crisps (which are easier to chew than traditional ones)
• Veggie Straws

TIP: Avoid whole nuts and popcorn until over age 4 to reduce the risk of choking.

Healthy Dairy Snack Ideas

Feel free to pair any of these with a fruit for an easy snack. Whole-milk dairy will help keep the kids fuller until the next meal—and often tastes better!

• Cheese, sliced, cubed, or string cheese
• Cottage cheese (or Cottage Cheese Dip)
• Drinkable yogurt or Yogurt Drinks
• Kefir
• Milk (dairy or nondairy)
• Plain yogurt or a Fruit-on-the-Bottom Yogurt
• Smoothies for kids

Protein Toddler Snacks

Snacks can be a great time to offer protein from vegetarian or meat-based sources. Here are some of our favorite easy options.

• Beans, slightly mashed
• Chickpeas (like these Soft Roasted Chickpeas)
• Chopped cashews and walnuts (2 or 3 and up)
• Cubed chicken
• Cubed turkey
• Deli meat (sliced turkey, ham, or salami, cut up as needed)
• Edamame, thawed and out of the pods
• Eggs, hard-cooked, scrambled, or as Egg and Cheese Mini Muffins
• Frozen peas, thawed
• Hummus (on crackers, bread, or as a veggie dip)
• Nut butter or sunflower seed butter (on toast, on apple slices, as a dip for pretzels, etc.)
• Peanut Butter Muffins or Chocolate Protein Muffins

Healthy Snacks for Kids FAQs

Best Tips for Healthy Snacks for Kids

• You can always serve leftovers as snacks or as a mini meal, especially if the kids are starting to refuse “regular” foods and only wanting snacks.
• Remember that appetite can vary from meal to meal and day to day. It is very hard to accurately predict another person’s hunger, so let the kids show you how hungry they are.
• Learn about the Division of Responsibility as an approach to mealtimes that can alleviate stress.
• My Baby Muffins and Spinach Banana Muffins are forever favorite toddler snacks, too.

Related Recipes

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I’d love to hear about your favorite snacks for kids, so please chime in below in the comments!

This first was first published February 2018.