Kids snack ideas

[snacktimehelp]

We’ve got into the bad habit of buying babybels, pepperami, froobs etc for snacks (which are expensive) and even worse habit that my kids after school (they have a cooked lunch) request a ‘snacky bowl’ for tea. This means these pre packaged snacked get eaten rapidly and the food shop that is meant to last a week lasts about half! They do have fruit and salad sticks etc, a sandwich in the ‘snacky’ bowl - what are some cheaper options for this style of dinner and snacks?

TIA

Limit the number of this type of dinner, for starters. If they've eaten all the snack crap then it's perfectly fine to say "you can't have that, you've already eaten all the snacks" and make them (e g.) a jacket potato.

[Pressed send too soon]. Maybe if you meal planned together it would help them to understand that there isn't a never ending supply and that this stuff needs to be spread across the week for the sake of their health and the contents of your purse

Mine snack on just that kind of thing to be honest, they are healthy and all a healthy weight.
I've tried the whole 'healthier snacks' it just doesn't go so well in this house.
One thing I've learnt since having 3 children is some things just aren't worth the battle.
If they come in from school and they are starving I'm not offering cucumber sticks and carrot sticks they will eat 'proper shitty snacks' I don't sweat it anymore if it fills them up and hits the spot then so be it. (Yes they still do eat healthier options too)
I'd hate to walk in from a long day at work and my husband offers me a bowl of fruit and sliced veg I think I'd throw a tantrum too!

Don’t give it to them. Make other options that could be a picky tea if they want something like that a few times a week. Make a big batch of pasta salad that can sit in the fridge, cheese cubes cut from a big block of cheddar rather than expensive babybels and cheese strings, crackers from a big packet, big yoghurt pot which you can put a portion in a bowl and add jam or fruit, buy big packs of salami or cook a cheap pack of sausages, put a pack of frozen party sausage rolls in the freezer.

It’s not always the healthiness of these types of snacks though, I agree they have their place sometimes, it’s the cost of them. There’s loads the OP can make or buy that’s not too different but lots cheaper and also has the benefit of being a little bit healthier, without trying to force the veg bowls!

I'm probably missing something then as I don't really consider yogurts, crackers, cheese dips or pepperami hugely expensive. I buy those bits weekly for my children's snacks it doesn't break my bank.
I'm far from well off too we have been in positions before where we've had to pawn things in just to get by!

Just because they request it doesn’t mean you have to give it to them. Could you limit it to just Friday as a ‘treat’? Use supermarket own brands as an alternative?

What does the rest of the house eat in the evening? Could you meal plan with DC?

We’ve always cooked a dinner in the evening even when DC had a hot lunch at school.

Well the OP asked for ideas for cheaper options so we can assume that the cost is an issue for the OP. There are many similar substitutes for the pre-packaged kid snacks that are a lot cheaper and if someone needs to cut down their food costs then it’s a good place to start as those things are very expensive compared to the cheaper options. A pack of cheese strings is often over £2 and won’t last the week, you could buy a cheap block of cheese and make lots more snacks out of it and save money.

A pack of cheese stings are £1.09.
I think its just a case of finding cheaper places to shop and looking for bargains/reduced labels. :)

Also I shop at aldi, I prefer after midday as a lot gets reduced and asda only for the yellow stickers.

Do they eat eggs? A hard boiled egg or little cubes of fritata are both relatively cheap and healthy too.
Also, try baking chickpeas until they go crunchy, they are really cheap, just add whatever flavourings you fancy.
I also make by own pitta chips. Cut pit into strips lay on a baking sheet, season and spray with oil then bake. They are great for dunking into hummus or a cream cheese dip.

My kids loved thin sticks of carrot which is cheap. And red pepper and grapes, a few of those will entice them to eat the carrots. Oh and slices apple floating in water (for some reason!). My supermarket often has yellow stickered apples.

My dd really liked breadsticks with a handful of grated cheddar.

Also crumpets with “proper butter” (crumpets are frequently yellow stickered and can be kept in a freezer ready to toast, which balances out the cost of butter).

They also liked pasta with pesto - that’s cheap to make and a quick tea.

When I was a child I absolutely loved sliced cucumber or tomato sandwiches, tinned sardines or baked beans on toast. My kids wouldn’t eat that.

But they will eat a toasted English muffin or half bread roll spread with a smear of red pesto or watered down tomato purée, a pinch of oregano, a sprinkle of cheese and two slices of mild pepperoni - the homemade pizza bakes in the air fryer for about 5 mins and fills the house with an amazing smell! They get gobbled up.

I’m joining for snack ideas. My kids have school lunches but I think of them as convient but not very healthy.

For school snack I have started to send them with slice chicken breast (the precooked UPF breasts but I need to get more organised) cumumber and pepper.

I find ‘picky tea’ more effort to make so don’t do it but instead of babybels just cut up some cheddar. Cream crackers with butter and slices of cheese. Greek yogurt in a bowl with some honey. Anything which comes prepacked will be a lot more expensive.

It's not that they're unaffordable, it's that I can't be buying the amount to give them everyday - cheesestrings as the example: £1.75 for 4 in tesco, with 2 kids 1 each lasts 2 days if they have one a day...

Buying them as a treat is fine but I need better value options for their daily snacks - they're far too in the habit of grabbing something convenient but I'd like to keep the food shop in check...

For example, this week the below ran out in about 3/4 days, so half of the time the weekly shop is meant to last (some even quicker):

Froobs, 2 packs
Babybels, large pack
2 punnets strawberries
12 bag hula hoops
Actimel, 12 pack (a few by hubby here & hula hoops)
cheesestring 8 pack

not to mention all the cheaper 'less convenient' bits too...

I did a 'snack' only shop with a loaf of bread and some ham for sandwiches for DH and I for lunch (freezer / cupboards full of food trying to use up) and it still came to around £80, and didn't even last the full week

Some good ideas so far, thanks!

Have bought dd a little mini fridge for her room. She knows her snacks must last her the week so it's up to her how quickly she eats it all, but once it's gone it's gone. At the moment she has

Sliced chicken breast
A couple of pepperami
Olives
Pot of baked chick peas with bbq seasoning
Cheese cubes
Edamame
Cocktail sausages / popcorn chicken
Pesto pasta pot of leftovers
Salami and crackers

We have cheese and crackers, rice cakes with peanut butter, homemade popcorn, breadsticks with cream cheese, tortilla chips made from cut up wraps with a bit of oil in the air fryer, veg sticks and lots of fruit - ‘fruit bowl’ fruit is usually cheaper than berries so we buy more of these. The thing is these take a bit of prep by an adult, not grab and go but easy and cheap enough.

I've been lucky with DD that she has cottoned on to packaged snacks (like crisps and chocolate) not really leaving her any less hungry so she gets that if she's actually hungry she wants fuel.

Our go to snacks are:

Wholegrain seeded toast with jam, Vegemite or honey

Rye crackers with cream cheese and a dot of chili jam

Hummus or taziki with carrot, pepper and sesame breadsticks

Plain yoghurt, banana and honey

Cheese (chopped from a large block as much cheaper) and crackers, olives

Small bowl of cereal

Homemade cake/flapjacks

It's on my to do list to try making savoury muffins as I think these would be a good snack and might freeze well.