The Art and Science of Making a Great Toddler Snack
Is there an art to making toddler snacks? Most definitely. There is some science, too!
A great snack meets these 3 criteria:
It’s quick
The kid will actually eat it
It gets your little one to the next meal without a hanger-filled meltdown
What are the components of a great toddler snack?
Something To Provide Energy (this is the science):
Carbohydrates = fuel. Carbs are the foods that provide energy to fuel all the running around that a toddler does. Luckily, kids tend to love Carbs so getting them on the plate isn’t too hard.
Carbs include starches like bread, cereal, pasta, grains as well as fruit, milk and starchy vegetables like corn, potato, peas and beans.
Something to Keep Kids Full:
Protein and Fat both work in their own way to keep kids full for longer.
If you feed your kid a snack that is solely Carb, chances are that they are going to be hungry well before the next meal even if they have eaten a lot.
Every snack doesn’t have to include something with protein AND fat but it ideally would include at least one of them.
Protein:
Protein takes longer to digest than Carb so can help kids feel fuller for longer.
Protein comes from meat as well as plant sources like beans, nuts, and seeds. Other sources of protein include eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese, milk, tofu, and quinoa.
Fat:
Fat takes longer to leave the stomach so digestion is slowed down. Young kids need a lot of fat too. Kids under 12 months actually need about 1/2 their calories to come from fat!
High fat foods include: oil, nuts, butter, full-fat dairy, cheese, avocado, egg yolk, and fatty fish.
Something that your kid is willing to eat (this is the art):
Seems like a no-brainer but sometimes we have ideas for how our kids “should” eat that are quite different than the way they actually eat.
I’m an advocate of exposing kids to a large variety of food including those they do not yet eat but each meal and snack needs at least one “safe food”. A safe food is the food in any meal or snack that you feel confident that your kid is willing to eat.
Something hydrating:
Ideally water or milk. Little kids are busy bodies and sometimes need a reminder to drink fluids. Always offer water with feedings.
Milk can also be offered at snacks. If your kid LOVES milk and wants to drink it all day, every day, consider serving milk only at snack and meal times. They may be filling up on milk during the day leaving little appetite for food. Overconsumption of milk can also put kids at risk for low iron.
Bonus: Include something colorful
Not obligatory but always nice to get some color on the plate. Typically, more color = a larger variety of vitamins and nutrients. (Dietitians love saying “eat the rainbow”!)
Another bonus: serve something with some fiber
Just like protein and fat, fiber helps to keep kids fuller longer as it is hard to break down and doesn’t get fully digested so food moves through the body slower. Fiber also helps to ward off constipation. High fiber foods include fruits and vegetables, legumes, and whole grains.
Other Snack Tips:
Keep it simple:
Kids eat too often to be building elaborate snacks.
The ideal snack can be thrown together in a couple minutes.
Sometime even just one food can check all the boxes. For instance, yogurt contains Carb, protein and fat.
Bulk prepping produce can help cut down on snack prep time. Examples might be cutting up grapes, tomatoes, strawberries and melon for later use.
A great time saving idea is to serve leftovers at snack time.
Let them eat their fill:
Just because it is a snack doesn’t mean it needs to be a small portion.
Young kids are naturally good at gauging how much food they need to eat—better than older kids and adults in fact. (Link to a whole post on this here!) There is no need to limit snack portions for toddlers if they have set snack times (ie they don’t snack on demand). Let them eat their fill.
Don’t limit yourself to “snacky” foods for snack:
Snack foods like crackers, pretzels, chips, fruit bars, cheese sticks, veggie straws…. Kids love these foods and they tend to be affordable, not too messy and convenient.
They also tend to be Carb heavy so pairing with a protein or fatty food is a good idea.
An issue can arise sometimes though if a kid loves the “snacky” foods and starts begging for snacks 24/7 and then skimping on meals.
If it seems like the interest in “snack food” is a 10 out of 10 and the interest in other foods is negligible, here are two things to try:
Consider implementing a feeding schedule. I have a whole blog about this approach here.
Change up when “snack food” is and isn’t served. Start serving snacks that look more like mini meals (using leftovers when available). You can also consider adding some “snack food” to meals such as serving a big charcuterie board at dinner.
Is a bedtime snack needed?
Typically not but it may be helpful in certain situations:
>>When there is a large gap between dinner and bedtime (>2.5 hours) it may be helpful.
>>Also if your kid’s doctor has advised trying to gain more weight, this may be a way to get a few more calories in before the day ends.
If your kids skimps on dinner and then begs for an evening snack, you can either say no or offer an unexciting snack option so as not to make it tempting for kids to holdout at meals for something yummier before bed.
20 Simple Snack Ideas:
The options for snacks are endless but here are some of our go-tos:
Quesadilla + guacamole or halved tomatoes
Leftover pasta + cheese (or any left overs really)
Apple + peanut butter
Yogurt + berries
Pretzel Crisps + hummus
Seaweed snack + cheese + fruit
Cereal with milk +/- sliced banana or freeze dried berries
Turkey and cheese roll up
Cottage cheese with canned or fresh fruit
Smoothie (fresh/frozen fruit, yogurt, milk)
Garbanzo bean salad (recipe here)
Sliced cucumber or peppers with ranch (or another dip) + toast
Graham cracker with peanut butter or cream cheese smeared on top
Edamame + fruit
Yogurt + cereal/granola topping
Bamba or Pirate’s Booty + fruit
Peanut butter toast +/- applesauce to dip it in
Cheese + crackers
Dried fruit + cheesestick
Banana sushi (see reel for how to)
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
Bagel and cream cheese + sliced tomatoes and/or lox