Kids seem to be starving as soon as they get home from school, but finding healthy snacks for them can be a struggle! Next time your kids are starving after school, try out one of these healthy after school snacks your kids will actually eat!
Since school is back in full swing, we have been getting back into the swing of things. Getting onto a good schedule… Doing homework… And making healthy back to school lunches. With everything that comes along with going back to school, one thing I have been focusing on lately is healthy after-school snacks.
If your kids are anything like mine, as soon as they get home it seems like they haven’t eaten all day! They are STARVING and need to have some sort of snack right away before they turn into screaming demons.
Finding healthy after-school snacks that my kids will actually eat has been somewhat of a struggle. Of course they always want junk food, what kid doesn’t? But I just can’t give into the starving banshees and insist on something with some nutritional value for them. Plus, I don’t want snacks that will ruin their dinner.
So through much trial and error, I have found some great snack options for my heathens that they enjoy eating and I feel good about feeding them. They are still hungry by time dinner rolls around, but they aren’t starving grumpy humans in the time between getting home and eating dinner.
Healthy After-School Snack Ideas
Sometimes all it takes it a little ranch to get my kids to eat raw vegetables. One of their favorite after school snacks is a vegetable tray. With a dipping cup of ranch, they will devour the carrots and cherry tomatoes.
Sometimes I add in cheese and pepperoni as well. I swear my kids would eat pepperoni every day for every meal if I let them!
Finally to add in a little bit of something special, they really enjoy the pita chips and some garlic cheese dip! All of this can picked up at Aldi or Walmart or any local grocery store. You may also order everything you need from myfood4less.com or similar sites and have it delivered to your home. Personally, I try to save as much money as possible so I really enjoy shopping at Aldi in order to cut my budged down.
Make Your Own Kid-Friendly Veggie Tray
Making your own kid friendly veggie tray is a great option for healthy after school snacks. I know, some kids really don’t like raw vegetables. At least with my kids, we enticed them with some ranch and they seem to go for it.
Just make sure you pick out easy vegetables that your kids will like. Mine are relatively not picky eaters, but I know this isn’t the case for every child. A few really good options are things like cucumbers with the skin peeled off, baby carrots and cherry tomatoes.
My kids won’t eat raw broccoli, but if yours will then add that in too!
Cucumbers seem to be the universal winner though. They are versatile and go well with a ton of different dips! So if you are trying to get your little one to eat more vegetables, then cucumbers are a great option to try out.
Kid-Friendly Fruit Tray
Fruit is always a great option for a healthy after-school snack. Fruit is sweet and much more likely to be eaten by kids than raw veggies. Seriously, I have a hard time keeping fruit in my house because my kids will eat it so fast after I buy it.
Making your own kid-friendly fruit tray is pretty simple as well. Some of my kids’ favorites are strawberries, blueberries and watermelon.
Again, I try to stay on a budget so I try to get fruit on sale whenever I can! Another way to save money on fruit is to not buy the pre-cut fruit. You are paying for convenience when you buy those pre-cute fruit. So I like to buy a whole watermelon, for example, and cut it up myself.
It may take a little extra work, but it is worth it to save some money on your grocery bill.
Not sure what to get? Here are a few of my kids’ favorite fruits!
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Oranges
- Bananas
- Watermelon
- Grapes
- Apples
Not sure if your kids will eat the fruit? Try some caramel dip or sweet cream cheese fruit dip! Drops seem to be the key to getting my kids to eat anything! Another great addition to a fruit tray is some yummy savory popcorn to balance out the sweetness of the fruit. Clean, allergen-friendly options like Safe & Fair’s Sea Salt Popcorn is the perfect option to keep the snack nice and healthy!
Meat and Cheese Roll-Ups
Another favorite in my house is meat and cheese roll-ups. These are easy to make, and you can use any lunch meat your kid’s love! Mine are partial to salami and pepperoni, but feel free to use ham, turkey, or chicken!
The best part is you can prep these days in advance and have a snack at the ready as soon as your kids walk in the door! Prep is minimal, and you won’t feel guilty giving them a snack they will love.
I feel like these healthy after-school snacks will be the most universal. Most kids, even picky ones, love lunch meat and cheese! The protein will help them stay full until dinner, and you don’t have to stress about giving them extra sugar!
What are your favorite healthy after-school snacks?
Now that you see what my kids like, I want to know some of your favorites! Let me know in the comments so I can try out some new snack options for my starving heathens!
Jessi is the creative mind behind The Coffee Mom, a popular blog that combines parenting advice, travel tips, and a love for all things Disney. As a trusted Disney influencer and passionate storyteller, Jessi’s authentic insights and relatable content resonate with readers worldwide.
Yum, even I would like these. My kids are usually starving when they get home, so I have something out for them. I’ll have to do a fruit plate!
School must make all kids hungry lol even if they eat all their lunch and snacks there haha
Impara la pronuncia
As I told you on FB it’s not easy to be able to route children to healthy snacks, that’s why your blog post is enlightening.
Thank you!
I thought its only my kids who come home starving from school. They love to eat fries and cakes, which is not healthy. I will need to change this habit gradually. Thanks a lot
Oh mine go right for crackers, chips, and anything sweet lol I have to make sure I have healthy options available and hide the other!
My 6 yo is going to love them for sure. I was really looking for some new ways to give him snacks he would love and here you are. Thank you. –Lina Ray
It’s really important to think of after school snacks for our kids, so that they eat something really valuable and nutritious. I think that if I were a kid, I’d love the snacks you’ve proposed here for sure. 🙂
My boys love fruit so that is always on the snack list. They also love snacking on yogurt.
Fruit and yogurt are always winners here too!
What I have discovered over the years is that the best way to get children to eat is to get them involved in the preparation of their food and they will be so proud of their accomplishment and even eat their meal or snack. These snacks are great options.
I totally agree! My kids love to cook with me! They are much more inclined to eat it if they made it.
kids love to cook. i was very much happy when they contribution.
I keep ranch around the house just for the kids- neither the hubby or I care for it. I’ve been pretty fortunately that my kids are pretty good snacking on veggies, and they particularly love hummus with them! I also make up a kid friendly trail mix with small pretzels, cheese its, dried fruit with just a small amount of m&ms or mini marshmallows so they can enjoy just a little something sweet in the mix without being too much it is a concern.
The meat and cheese roll ups are a snack that every child would love! I like that you have suggested platters, so that children can choose the healthy snacks they love most.
So important to give our children a healthy good snack. I even would enjoy these
Creating a veggie tray and a fruit tray is a great idea for a healthy after school snack. It’s simple, easy, and delicious! You also don’t have to worry about what’s in the food since it’s just fruit and vegetables.
These are all great ideas. They give your kids healthy options that will satisfy their hunger till dinner time.
Haha I’m a picky eater so I would totally go for these as well! Thanks so much for sharing with us!
These are great ideas! My kids love salami and fruit! I think a meat, cheese and fruit tray would be perfect for them.
Those are some great ideas! Especially when they are back from school tired and hungry. Healthy options are good to give them a boost.
I’m going to make this for my kids! They come home and want to eat all of the snacsk in wrappers that are meant for school. I love that this is a healthier option for them!
What great ideas, I’ll definitely try! Mine likes to eat guacamole, hummus, sweet potato dip and berries!
[…] with snacks, you should take books and games that don’t require any electricity or external power […]
[…] chocolate-less trail mix, robust fruit that can withstand a bit of squishing, and any other kind of healthy snacks. These divine distractions can mean the difference between cranky castaways and happy […]