Healthy Snack Ideas for Active Kids
It’s always great to see that your kid is active and playing sports. Whether it’s recreational sports leagues, or your kid just loves to shoot hoops or throw around the football or baseball at home with friends—you’ll get the guarantee that your kid is learning about the value of teamwork while simultaneously staying healthy (not to mention your kid expends energy which is always a major plus).
Sports and games are definitely going to keep your kid healthy, but as a parent you’re going to have to assist your child by making sure she’s getting healthy snacks throughout the day in order to get the fuel she needs to ensure that she has the fuel necessary to stay active. Your active young athlete is going to need healthy snacks before games (whether weekend morning games or afterschool games), and it’s always a good idea to provide your child with a healthy snack after the game.
The variety of the types of food you can use for your active kid are wide, and there’s tons of great ways to get creative with those foods to put together for some pretty fun snacks. All the options are easy to make, which will blend well with your kid’s active and on the go lifestyle.
Types of foods
An active kid means a lot of energy, and carbohydrates are always a great way to keep that energy up. In addition to carbs, you’re also going to want to rely on healthy fats and proteins. Carbs, proteins, and healthy fats all help slow down energy release—allowing your kid to keep up her endurance without having to push too hard.
Good carbohydrates
- Crackers
- Dried fruits
- Fresh fruits
- Granola or granola bars made from whole grain
- Carrot sticks and various other vegetables
- English muffins made from whole wheat
- Low fat muffins
- Low fat banana bread
- Fruit cups
- Yogurt
- Oatmeal
- Whole grain pita wraps or tortillas
- Toast
Good healthy fats and proteins
- Mixed unsalted nuts
- Peanut butter/almond butter
- Hummus
- Cheese
- Hard boiled or scrambled eggs
- Greek yogurt
- Deli meats
- avocados
- sunflower, coconut, olive, hemp oils
You can always have your kid eat any of these foods separately, but your child is definitely going to get a kick out of all the fun and creative snack ideas you can make. And of course, mixing and matching is a fantastic way to make sure you have all your bases covered—allowing your kid to hit a homerun every time.
Smoothies
Really, smoothies are pretty basic, but they’re a great way for your kid to get some fruit and protein. Just mix up some Greek yogurt, frozen fruits, and some fruit juice—and you’ve got an easy portable snack to have on the way to the big game.
Solid sandwich ideas
Sandwiches are easy to make, can be eaten quickly, and make for a well-rounded snack.
- Peanut butter sandwich
- Peanut butter and banana sandwich
- Sandwiches made from thinly sliced deli meats and cheese. You can use either bread or an English muffin.
- A breakfast sandwich can be made by putting some scrambled eggs into an English muffin (this is a great idea for if your kid has a game in the morning).
Ants on a log
This one is unique. You can take some celery sticks, fill them with some peanut butter, throw some dried raisins on top and you’ll have what’s known as “ants on a log”.
Banana Rollup
Banana rollups make for a nice twist on the typical peanut butter banana sandwich. All you have to do is spread some peanut butter onto a whole wheat tortilla, and the wrap the tortilla around a banana.
Deli meat and cheese rollup
Just wrap some cheese around a deli meat of you or your kid’s choice.
Yogurt and mixed fruit bowls
Grab some Tupperware containers and fill them up with yogurt (Greek or not), some strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries, and some granola. From there just go ahead and mix everything all together. Or just have a huge basket of fruit. Taste the rainbow with an assortment of various fruits!
Frozen yogurt “cheesecake” popsicles
This one requires a little preparation, so you’re going to need to allow yourself 4 hours or freeze everything overnight. Here’s the list of the ingredients you’ll need:
- ½ cup of low fat Greek Yogurt
- ½ cup of either fresh or frozen blueberries
- ½ cup of some low fat cottage cheese
- 1 cup of low fat soy milk
Once you have all of your ingredients, you’ll begin by blending everything but the berries in a blender. Next, you’ll slowly pour the yogurt mixture into some plastic popsicle molds until the popsicle mold is halfway filled.
Then you add your berries, and then go ahead and pour what you have left of the yogurt mixture into the popsicle mold. Make sure to leave some room at the top of the popsicle mold so you can put in the sticks. Go ahead and freeze everything in the molds for 4 hours and wait till the treat is loose enough to take out of the mold. If you want to speed that process up you can run the popsicle mold under some hot water for roughly 10-15 seconds.
Crackers with cheese or hummus
This option is very popular and easy. You probably already know how to put this snack together!
Hydration is Key to Staying Healthy
And let’s not forget, you always have to make sure your child is properly hydrated. Sports drinks are always great, but of course, water is the best choice. Energy drinks are a no-go since some of the ingredients can cause harm to children under 18—and regardless—energy drinks will usually result in an eventual energy crash. Sports drinks are also usually filled with sugar so those are not the best choices. Water is best, and if you need a change you can try out coconut water as well!
A majority of these snack options can be quickly prepared and eaten (this doesn’t ring totally true for the popsicles, so if you want to make them it’s probably best to freeze everything overnight), and are all well-rounded so you can be sure your kid gets the proper balance of nutrients she needs to stay active and healthy.