Ideas for Making Healthy Snacks for Preschoolers

Fruit Salad Art

• Use a variety of fruit as a palette to create healthy masterpieces that any preschool child will be tempted to eat. Simply place apple or orange slices in a circular shape around a slice of kiwi for fruit flowers. A caterpillar can be created by lining up grapes or watermelon balls in a row on a plate and adding miniature chocolate chips for eyes. Additionally, create edible faces. Cut several pieces of fruit into small slices. Arrange the fruit on a whole-wheat tortilla to make facial features, such as orange wedges for a mouth and banana slices for eyes.

Cookies and Milk

• If your preschooler loves to nibble on sugary cookies for snack time, create a healthier option for him. Instead of using refined sugar and flour in a chocolate chip cookie or sugar cookie recipe, swap the ingredients with whole-wheat flour and brown sugar. For less fat, substitute the butter with coconut oil, canola oil or applesauce to make the dough. Press cookie cutters in the dough to create all kinds of kid-friendly shapes, such as animals or stars. Bake in the oven until browned. Serve the cookies on a plate with a cup of low-fat milk.

Mini Pizza Party

• Allow your preschooler to use her imaginative skills to pretend to be a chef and turn your afternoon into a pizza-making affair. Split open several whole-wheat English muffins. Spread tomato sauce on each half. Slice several kinds of vegetables, such as mushrooms and green peppers. Place them in small bowls. Let your preschooler have the honor of sprinkling shredded low-fat cheese on the muffins and topping them with her choice of vegetables. If she'd like to top her pizza with meat, skip pepperoni and use shredded chicken breast for less fat. Bake the pizzas in the oven until the cheese is melted.

Vegetable Pinwheels

• Bite-size sandwiches should satisfy your preschooler's appetite until dinner time. Simply roll a rolling pin on a whole-wheat bread slice to make it flat or use a whole-wheat tortilla. Spread hummus or low-fat cream cheese on the slice. Dice up several kinds of vegetables, such as carrots or green peppers. Place the vegetables on top and roll up the sandwich. Place the rolled sandwich in the refrigerator for a half hour to firm until snack time. Slice the sandwiches horizontally into small pieces to create pinwheels. Place them sideways on a plate for your preschooler to gobble down.