11 Kid-Friendly Snack Hacks That Make Healthy Eating Fun

Sometimes it’s okay to play with your food — especially if it encourages the kiddos to enjoy healthy treats. Use colorful fruits and vegetables to make flowers, butterflies and rainbows the little ones will love, or create healthier twists on classic favorites like pizza and popsicles.

By: Holley Grainger, MS, RD

Related To:

Shop This Look

Photo By: Jacob Blount; Styling By: Callie Blount

Frozen Fruit Sundae Cones

Spoon frozen mixed berries into small cones for a fun twist on the traditional ice cream cone. Top with whipped cream and a cherry for a hand-held sundae boasting healthy and colorful ingredients.

Bell Pepper Rainbows With Sunshine Sauce

Brighten up even the cloudiest of days by serving your little ones bell pepper rainbow dippers and cauliflower clouds with honey-mustard sunshine sauce. This sweet skyline is sure to put a smile on their faces.

Chicken Salad Sushi

No special equipment or ingredients required to make these fun chicken salad sushi roll ups at home. Simply press out a piece of soft white bread (or let the kids smash it with their hands) on a large Swiss chard leaf, then top the bread with chicken salad, cucumber sticks and carrot sticks. Roll the “sushi” and slice into 1-inch pieces. These little sushi rolls are adorable for snack time, a picnic or packed in a lunchbox.

Hummus and Veggie Flowers

April showers bring May hummus and crudité flowers. Use individual containers of hummus or spoon hummus into a small prep bowl to serve as the center of the flower. Slice an English cucumber on the diagonal (these are seedless and have thin, edible skin) and top each piece with a bell pepper strip. Make the stem with a celery stalk and leaf and “plant” the flower into a bed of whole-wheat crackers.

Fruity Flowers and Butterflies

Let your kids play Mother Nature by creating flowers and butterflies using fresh fruits and vegetables. To make the flower, spoon plain Greek yogurt into a small bowl, then use fresh fruit like strawberries and blueberries to create petals. Make a colorful butterfly with cucumber slices, bell pepper pieces, raspberries and blueberries.

Individual Apple Pie Bites

“Baking” an apple pie just got much easier when you make these adorable graham cracker apple pie stackers. Smear plain or vanilla Greek yogurt on top of a graham cracker square, then add chopped Granny Smith apples, a drizzle of honey and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Tropical Sorbet Pops

Frozen pops made only of fruit are hard to pass up on a warm summer day. Blend together fresh mango and pineapple with a little water, pour into paper cups and freeze. When the pops are almost frozen, add brightly colored wide straws to the center. Once frozen, let your kids tear away the paper cups and dip or roll the pops in toasted coconut.

Cheesy Umbrellas

Slice a Mini Babybel cheese round in half (leave the wax coating on until you’re ready to eat) and insert part of a flexible straw into the cut side to create adorable edible umbrellas. Add cauliflower clouds and raindrops to your plate to create a rainy day scene. Want to really be singing in the rain? Vary your “umbrella” colors with green, turquoise and purple by choosing different flavors of cheese.

Mini Personal Bagel Pizzas

Skip the frozen bagel pizza bites and let your children customize their own mini pizzas using healthier ingredients. Set up a pizza bar with mini whole wheat bagel halves, marinara sauce and toppings like chopped vegetables, ground beef, diced ham, pepperoni, shredded mozzarella cheese and feta cheese crumbles. Once your child creates his own personal pizza snack, bake for around 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Banana Breakfast Split

For a fun and healthier spin on the traditional banana split, slice a banana in half lengthwise, spoon plain or vanilla Greek yogurt over the center, top with fresh berries and granola and drizzle with honey.

Veggie Parfaits

No more double dipping when each child has their own parfait glass of vegetables and dip. Simply prefill parfait glasses with ranch dressing, hummus, salsa or guacamole, then add sliced colorful veggies like carrots, peppers and cucumber.

500 Operands are not of the same type: comparison is supported for Number types only.

Operands are not of the same type: comparison is supported for Number types only.

Cannot serve request to /content/hgtv-com/en/lifestyle/entertaining/photo-galleries/2016/1/kid-friendly-snack-hacks-that-make-healthy-eating-fun.html on this server

ApacheSling/2.7 (jetty/9.4.42.v20210604, Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM 1.8.0_271, Linux 4.14.203-156.332.amzn2.x86_64 amd64)