Healthy Snacks for the Preschool Class

When it's your turn to provide snacks for your child's preschool classroom, don't panic -- preschoolers' snacks need not be complicated, time-consuming or budget-busting. Set the stage for healthy eating by offering kid-friendly morsels that are safe for the majority of children to eat, then divvy them out in appropriate portion sizes.

  1. What Constitutes Healthy?

    • The U.S. Department of Agriculture's publication "Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010" recommends that children age 3 to 4 eat between 1,000 and 1,600 calories per day, depending on gender, age and activity level. Ensure that the snacks you offer fit within those meal plans by keeping portions small. Choose a snack that's low in added sugar, sodium and saturated or trans fats and instead is rich in vitamins and minerals, lean protein, unsaturated fats or complex carbohydrates.

    Allergy Consideration

    • The number of children with a peanut allergy tripled between 1997 and 2008, according to group Food Allergy Research Education. Check with your preschooler's teacher to determine if peanut or tree nut allergies are a concern for snack time. If that's the case, watch out for foods that peanuts can inadvertently be in. While snacks using peanut butter or ground nuts are obviously off-limits, the allergy group says that peanuts can be found in commercial baked goods, egg rolls, enchilada sauce and marzipan. Read ingredient lists carefully, looking for a statement that warns whether the product can contain peanuts. Other potential allergens include milk, eggs and soy.

    Perfect Produce

    • Preschoolers need 1 to 1.5 cups of fruit and another 1 to 1.5 cups of vegetables each day, and snacks are just the right place to add another serving. Serve carrots and dip as a snack; children often like carrots because of their natural sweetness. Pair baby carrots or carrot slices with a container of hummus or a jar of salsa. If it's a hot day, bring in containers of unsweetened applesauce that have been frozen overnight to create a fruit slushy. Another option is to serve "ladybugs on a log" -- like the traditional ants-on-a-log snack made with peanut butter, fill celery sticks with light cream cheese and add a line of dried raisins or cranberries.

    Interactive Snacks

    • Picky children might enjoy a snack a lot more if they have a hand in preparing it. With the blessing of the teacher, allow the preschoolers to create their own yogurt parfait. Buy a large container of low-fat yogurt and slice up fruit such as strawberries or bananas. Portion the yogurt, fruit and whole-grain cereal into bowls and let the kids layer their own ingredients into small cups. You can also let them make their own cracker sandwiches -- offer whole-grain crackers, low-fat cheese slices, cut-up pieces of deli meats and small pieces of lettuce and tomato. The children can layer their "sandwiches" however they desire.

    2. Previous:

    Next:

    • How to Increase a Child's Protein Intake
      ChooseMyPlate.gov states that most Americans get plenty of protein in their diets -- but its the fatty, processed kind, rather than the healthy, lean kind. Whether you need to boost the quality of your childs protein or simply add more protein source
    • How Much Vitamin K Should a Kid Take?
      Vitamin K is an often overlooked vitamin, though it plays an important role. Vitamin K helps the blood clot to prevent excessive bleeding and to speed healing after an injury. Children, especially, are prone to a lot of cuts and scrapes, so it is imp
    • TV Doctor Promotes Whole Grain; Is He Supporting Sugary Cereals?
      In a phone interview, Stork acknowledged that he was being paid by General Mills to promote whole grains but emphasized that this didn't mean he was "endorsing General Mills" or telling parents to buy the company's Lucky Charms,