Healthy snack ideas?

baby carrots w/ light ranch, celery and peanut butter, goldfish crackers, apple wedges...

Jennifer is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com and mommy to four beautiful girls who range from 9 to 4 years of age.

Z-Bars for Kids, sold at Trader Joe's, are awesome and well-balanced. They are very inexpensive, contain no preservatives, and are organic. I buy all of our children's snacks from Trader Joe's and have found that our children stay full longer when I use preservative-free snacks.

Peanut butter is very good for energy!

Mouse_tales is a discussion leader in the East Valley for arizonamoms.com. She is a business owner, community volunteer, and aspiring runner (whew!), who most enjoys her roles as wife & mom. Her children range in age from 4 to 13.

The best healthy snack I've seen for kids are skewers of pineapple, oranges and cheese. The kids gobble them up and it's good for them!! You might bring string cheese along just to pass out in the car on the way home. Peanuts are good, too.

Paz

I feed my children Peanut Butter and Tortillas.. yes sounds wierd.. but they have the carbohydrates and the protein they need for activities. They don't need to be refridgerated and wonderful finger foods.. at first my kids put their nose up to it,, but now they love them.. kinda sweet, but no sugar added.

My kids love sliced apples with peanut butter. They also love the little "cat" cookies in a big plastic tub from Trader Joes. They each have their favorite fruit, so I try to make sure I have lots of fruit around especially when its in season. Watermelon is always a big hit. We love to make our own fruit smoothies, and they are so easy, just throw bananas, yogurt, fruit (canned or fresh) in a blender with ice or frozen fruit and you're done. Smoothies are great before dinner snacks. You can sneak veggies in there too.

Susan & Neil Hampton have three spectacular children, Alexander, Isabel and David, plus one amazing teenager, Eric. Susan does community outreach for arizonamoms.com.
“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” - Margaret Atwood

Try fruit dipped in yogurt for something fun...kids always like to dip. I also make homemade whole wheat pita chips. Just cut the pitas into wedges, spray with olive oil and bake until crisp(about 5-7min on 350) and serve with hummus and carrot sticks! Yummy!

Any kind of nut is just what their body needs. Boiled eggs and tuna are great snacks too. I also feed my kids their fruit or veggie part of their dinner for a before dinner snack. I would try to avoid loading them up on just carbs. Give their body what it needs!

soccermom

Some favorites include: raisins, trail mix, apple slices (they sell them packaged with grapes)....any sliced fruit is always a winner!

LisaMommy is a discussion leader in Paradise Valley/Scottsdale area for arizonamoms.com. Her two boys are ages 6 months and 3 years old.

You might be better off pre-cooking things so they are ready when you get home. Like we are all so perfect! Hey, we can dream! ;) Or maybe there is a part of the dinner that can keep them busy while the other items brew. So it's more like appetisers than snacks. I just know in my house, we fill up quickly.

My seven year old loves sliced cucumbers with salt and those mini tomatoes. She also will eat an entire flat of any kind of berry in one sitting but that might not be practical given the price of berries and your three kids.

I like sliced avacadoes with balsamic vinegar and salt. It's really yummy if you can get them to try it. I actually learned that from a mom who gave it to her kids. It also doubles as a fancy-looking appetiser, BTW. ;)

Also banannas! They'll need the potasium!