100 simple, quick snack ideas for the kids this summer (or anytime)
Summer is here and the snack attacks have arrived. The HSE recommends we feed our children 2/3 snacks a day. On my estimation, with 3 children, that’s a total of about 500 snacks over the 8 weeks of summer ! That’s a whole lot of snacks. And we want snacks for the kids to be easy, healthy, quick, tasty - right?
If you’re looking for good snacks for kids and toddlers, here’s my ultimate list of 100 easy, quick, healthy snacks for your kids this summer. Bookmark this page for the next 8 weeks!
I’ve broken this down into approximate length of time it takes to make the snack for you. I’ve tried to include protein in every snack as this will keep your child or toddler fuller for longer - and who doesn’t want that eh?
Lots of these are snacks the kids can make themselves.
Essential snack making equipment for your child!
1 minute healthy kid and toddler snacks
These are literally snacks you pop on a plate. They may require some very simple prep but no cooking. These are snacks kids can make by themselves for the most part.
Small handful nuts with an apple and square of dark chocolate
Bowl of cereal - add fresh fruit and nuts/seeds to boost nutrition and protein
Dry cereal (like Shreddies or Cheerios) on top of Greek yoghurt with berries
Popcorn (we like Keoghs or Manhattan popcorn), cheese and an orange
3 minute healthy kid and toddler snacks
These snacks take a little longer ‘cause, you know - toast! Again, many of these child-friendly snacks are ones the kids can make themselves.
22. Slice toast with hummus and chopped fruit
23. Slice toast with cheese and grapes
24. Slice toast with peanut butter and banana
25. Sliced toast with baked beans
26. Slice toast with spoon of baked beans, sprinkle of cheese
27. Slice toast with avocado, cherry tomatoes
28. Slice toast with peanut butter and jam
29. Slice toast with scrambled egg - literally takes as long as your toast to cook
30. Banana sushi - check out the fun recipe here
31. Carrot sticks with hummus and fruit (takes a couple of mins to peel the carrot!)
32. Carrot, cucumber and pepper sticks with hummus and fruit
33. Cubed cheese, crackers, chopped fruit
34. Porridge with nuts or seeds and blueberries (porridge needs a bit of extra protein to make it more filling hence the nuts/seeds)
35.Ham and cheese mini sandwich, fruit
36.Cucumber and hummus mini sandwich, fruit
37.Chicken and salad mini sandwich, fruit
39.Green smoothie - check the recipe here
40.Purple smoothie - check the recipe here
41. Orange smoothie - check the recipe here
42. Seed crackers, fruits and vegetables with homemade hummus
43. Corn thins with peanut butter and honey
44. Pesto (homemade or The Happy Pear is our fav), breadsticks, carrot sticks and grapes
45. Tzatziki (homemade or shop bought) with bread sticks, feta and watermelon
46. Fruit and cheese kebabs (the kids will love using Pick Sticks to make these!)
5-10 minute healthy kid and toddler snacks
These snacks take a little bit longer but, some of these you can make in bulk and then they turn into 1 minute snacks!
47. Peanut butter and jelly rolls - these are great fun - see the recipe here.
48. Dinky Apple Donuts - the kids will love making these - see recipe here
49. Courgette pizza bites - see recipe here .
50. Banana Sushi - an easy snackitivity for the kids - see recipe here
51. Pizza toast - easy pizza any time of the day - see recipe here
52. Pizza Bagel - check out the recipe here
53. 2 ingredient banana pancakes - see recipe here.
54. Boiled Egg with Crackers and Fruit
55. Boiled Egg and Carrot Sticks
56. Overnight Oats - I know these take 24 hours but the initial ‘making’ is quick’ - see recipe here
58. Pitta Pizza topped with Passata Sauce and Veg
59. Toasted PB and Jam rolls - see the recipe here
60. 2 ingredient banana and oat cookies - see recipe here
61. Fun fried egg, serve with toast and fruit - see recipe here
62. Carrot cake power balls - see recipe here
63. Apricot and cashew bliss balls - from Mummy Cooks - see recipe here
64. Weetabix power balls - great for breakfast as well! - see recipe here
65. Chocolate bark - see the recipe here
66. Chocolate apples - see recipe here
67. Banana boat - the kids will love making this one - see recipe here
68. Quesadilla with cheese and broccoli - see recipe here
69. Quesadilla with ham, cheese and tomato
70. Carrot cake pancakes from Jamie Oliver - see recipe here
71. Green spinach pancakes - from my children’s cookbook, Chop, Cook, Yum
72. Popcorn trail mix - toast some seeds, pop some corn, open some nuts - pour in a bowl and mix. Add chocolate chips, dried fruit - let the kids make their own
73. Easy oatmeal mug cake - see the recipe here
74. Airfryer omlette toast - this is a brilliant idea - see recipe here
75. Leftovers - leftover dinner can be reheated or repurposed for a quick snack
76. A snack platter - put a selection of fruit, cheese, dips, meats onto a fun plate like the Pick Plate
15 minute + healthy kid and toddler snacks
These kid-friendly snack ideas take a bit longer to make as they may require some cooking. But, once they’re done, you’ll have healthy snacks for the week (or a day at least!)
77. Peanut butter fudge - see recipe here
78. 4 ingredient frozen, raspberry chocolate bites - see the recipe here
79. Sweet potato pumpkins - perfect snack for Halloween - see recipe here
80. Cheese and spinach egg muffins - see recipe here
81. Peanut butter cups - see recipe here
82. Strawberry crunch - an upside down crumble that’s delicious from Mummy Cooks - see recipe here
83. Carrot and courgette mini loaves - from Suzanne of Nom Nom Kids - serve with cheese - see here
84. Raspberry, oat and banana cookies - see recipe here.
85. Frozen raspberry and chocolate bites - see recipe here
86. Vegetable soup - takes a while to make but great to have on hand - here’s a recipe from Donal Skehan
87. Tuna and cheese toastie - see a simple recipe here
88. Baked banana and raspberry porridge - make for breakfast and have the leftovers as snacks- see recipe here
89. Custard toast - this is probably quicker than 15 minutes - see recipe here
90. PB & J scrolls - delicious - see recipe here
91. Healthy sausage rolls - see recipe here
92. Carrot cake muffins - see recipe here
93. Beetroot chocolate muffins - see recipe here
94. Courgette muffins - see recipe here
95. Nachos - using these homemade tortilla chips (see recipe here), cheese, salsa, sour cream
96. Sushi - a great snacktivity for the kids. Prep your rice and your fillings and let them roll!
97. Ham and cheese pinwheels - check out this recipe from Siobhan Berry here
98. Mini chocolate oat cakes from My Fussy Eater - see the recipe here
99. Veggie fritters - see recipe here
100. Cauliflower and Cheese bites from Mummy Cooks - see recipe here