Snack ideas for children

[RubADu]

My 9 year old needs a filling. I feel dreadful and I realise that I've let him and his 6yo brother fall into bad habits with snacking.

They tend to have a snack after school, before or after extra curricula clubs, in the car at the weekend etc.

Rather than immediately cutting down on snacks themselves (I'll do that over time) I would like to offer healthier snacks.

They like quite dry, plain food, which I find limiting. So they like the big rice cakes - but. I can't increase variety by adding different toppings - they just like them plain.

So rice cakes, breadsticks, dried mango, plain popcorn....then I'm stuck!

School and many clubs are nut free.

I would be very very grateful for any ideas.

[AtleastitsnotMonday]

Roasted chickpeas are good.
Watch the dried fruit it’s high sugar.
Chop pita breads into thin fingers season, spray with oil and bake.
Can do the same to make tortilla chips.
Cheese and crackers.
Cheese scones

[forkfun]

Roasted peas
Roasted beans
Sunflower seeds (usually ok if school is but free)
Pretzels

[RubADu]

@AtleastitsnotMonday what type of oil do you use to roast chickpeas? And how long in the oven?

[Littlebelina]

Marks and Spencers do a corn version of a rice cake. Only a small variation.

My son has discovered his baby sisters melty snacks (essentially vegetable favoured wotsits). Aldi do a tomato wheel and they are low in salt.

[AtleastitsnotMonday]

Chickpeas

[AlphaJura]

Crackers. Mine love crisps but stops them eating too many.

[Ricekrispie22]

High protein snacks with keep them feeling fuller for longer.

Sliced pork sausage (possibly with a little pot of tomato sauce for dipping!)
Boiled egg
Cubes of cheese.
Frittata muffins realfood.tesco.com/recipes/oven-baked-pea-ham-and-pasta-frittatas.html

[Jesse70]

Dried mango is a terrible snack it is really bad for teeth I would avoid x

[stucknoue]

To be honest the best thing is to reduce snacks, the idea that kids need them is a modern concept, far better that they have 3 nutritionally balanced meals, if they do have a carb laden snack, ensure their main meal is altered accordingly otherwise they will have too many carbs, a bit cause of obesity. Veggie sticks (carrots, celery, cucumber, peppers etc) and hummus is a far better snack

[RubADu]

Thanks all. It's the "on the go" bit I struggle with. They would both happily eat a bowl of hot veg if we were at home but that's not a possibility when in the car.

Also most snacks have to survive being in my car all day when I'm at work before picking them up - so hummus etc tricky too!

But good ideas here. Is dried mango really that bad? My dentist has never mentioned it.

[Jesse70]

Yeah most dried fruit as they contain more sugar than fresh and stick to the teeth they can also pull out fillings so best to avoid
Although they taste great lol
They still recommend when eating sweet foods to eat as part of a main meal also so it's right about trying not to snack also