Healthy After-School Snacks for Hungry Learners

The after-school munchies are real and for parents looking to balance healthy living with tastes that kids will love, it can be hard to come up snack ideas that can fill them up just enough until dinner! Here are 12 healthy options that will keep your little learner satiated without loading them up on sugar.

1. Ants on a log

Spread peanut butter on celery and arrange a few raisins across the top of the peanut butter.

2. Pita pocket stuffed with veggies, cheese, and a low-fat condiment

3. Homemade trail mix

Assuming there are no nut allergies, a mix of almonds, dried fruit, and whole-grain cereal can make for the perfect crunch!

4. Cottage cheese and peaches

5. Sliced pears with ricotta cheese

6. DIY energy balls

No need to cook if you use ready-to-eat items (such as oats, dried fruit, nuts, or flax seeds) and a binding agent (think honey and any nut butter).

7. Vegetables or pretzels and hummus

8. Colorful smoothies

Load them up with fruits, kale, honey, and oat or soy milk.

9. Hardboiled eggs

10. Turkey pinwheels

Roll turkey, a cheese slice and avocado up in a wrap and then slice to create pinwheels.

11. Frozen fruit popsicles

Skip the store-bough options, which can be full of artificial colors, flavors, and sugar. Just puree frozen berries with a small amount of juice and freeze in a plastic cup covered in tin foil, which will hold the popsicle stick upright.

12. Cheese and whole-grain or rice crackers